Speed Limits + Safety ... Ya right

I'm tired off safety experts telling us speed is bad and raising speed limits will kill all kinds of people.

Then why does the autobahn have 1/4 of the death rate of the USA's interstate Highway ???

Your thoughts ???

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Originally Posted by Escape_Driver

I'm tired off safety experts telling us speed is bad and raising speed limits will kill all kinds of people.

Then why does the autobahn have 1/4 of the death rate of the USA's interstate Highway ???

Your thoughts ???

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Ive never been on the Autobahn but I watched an interesting documentary.

If you so much as give someone the finger your in trouble.
It is also better regulated than Highways in the US.
Tailgating is a No! No. Nice little cameras everywhere from what I understand to catch these kinds of drivers.

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Originally Posted by Escape_Driver

I'm tired off safety experts telling us speed is bad and raising speed limits will kill all kinds of people.

Then why does the autobahn have 1/4 of the death rate of the USA's interstate Highway ???

Your thoughts ???

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The autobahn doesn't run past a grammar school or a playground. If you have a problem with highway speedlimits, then you can make a case to raise the limits. But they exist, and you pretty much have to deal with that.

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Originally Posted by meatwad

The autobahn doesn't run past a grammar school or a playground. If you have a problem with highway speedlimits, then you can make a case to raise the limits. But they exist, and you pretty much have to deal with that.

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But don't tell me that an interstate highway speed limit has ANYTHING to do with safety. It's about TAXES... Nothing more just $$$

Oh man, where to start? I'll go in list form, you hunt these facts down for me.

1: How do the loads (as in car density per mile) compare between the US interstates and the autobahn?

2: How much larger is the US interstate system than the autobahn?

3: How is the "1/4" statistic reached? Is it numerical or proportional?

4: Are there any traffic laws that aren't applied to both evenly?

5: What is the average distance traveled on the autobahn vs. US interstate?

6: How many people use each?

7: How different is the vehicle makeup of each?

8: What is the DUI rate on the autobahn vs the interstate (DUIs account for half of all traffic fatalities in the US)?

That is a good starter.

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Originally Posted by Escape_Driver

But don't tell me that an interstate highway speed limit has ANYTHING to do with safety. It's about TAXES... Nothing more just $$$

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I would imagine the likelihood of a fatality from a blowout at 135 is a little higher than at 55.

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Originally Posted by meatwad

I would imagine the likelihood of a fatality from a blowout at 135 is a little higher than at 55.

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Pretty likely at either speed (considering how many light trucks and SUVs there are), but at 135 you are a helluva lot more likely to take out 3 or 4 other cars in your rather energetic exit from this mortal coil.

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Originally Posted by jaeger

Pretty likely at either speed (considering how many light trucks and SUVs there are), but at 135 you are a helluva lot more likely to take out 3 or 4 other cars in your rather energetic exit from this mortal coil.

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I've had tires shred a couple times on the highway at high speed (75). Makes the car shake like hell and scare the crap out of ya, not much more as long as you keep your wits about you.

Escape, have you ever been unexpectedly sideswiped and forced into an uncontrollable spin at high speeds, then crossing over into oncoming traffic lanes only to strike another car, while doing the current posted speed limit of 50 MPH? Have you ever had a blow out on a front wheel at high speeds? Or the best one I can recal, had to avoid a wheel and tire bouncing down the road at 65 while the car that lost it was sliding out of control alongside of you? I have done all three. Let me tell you something...it takes allot of cold sweat sleepless nights to decompress from having survived near death experiences to get back out there on the road and keep up with traffic, especially at the speeds of today’s roads.

Honestly, Speeding is a killer when coupled with the wrong circumstances it can really mess you up! You should take the time to go to a few salvage yards where they store some of the total losses with. If you can find the drivers seat on some of the real bad ones, look for the blood, and pieces of scalp, hair and face fused into the shattered windshields, and the baby seats crushed under the weight of a multiple rollover…Cars today are made to perform very well, and very comfortably at very high speeds. But none of them are capable of guaranteeing your life at any speeds over 35 Miles per hour. Even at speeds that slow you could be killed, but as you increase things, the odds of death increscent exponentially.


Again, al lot of sleepless nights my man, if you haven’t been through any of those, you don’t know what you are talking about!

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Originally Posted by ilovetheusers

I've had tires shred a couple times on the highway at high speed (75). Makes the car shake like hell and scare the crap out of ya, not much more as long as you keep your wits about you.

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But were they front tires that you lost? I lost a rear once, didn't even know it, thought it was a bad stretch of road, turns out I was sliding on a complete flat.

Front blowouts are not even close in comparison...trust me!

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Originally Posted by jaeger

Oh man, where to start? I'll go in list form, you hunt these facts down for me.

1: How do the loads (as in car density per mile) compare between the US interstates and the autobahn?

2: How much larger is the US interstate system than the autobahn?

3: How is the "1/4" statistic reached? Is it numerical or proportional?

4: Are there any traffic laws that aren't applied to both evenly?

5: What is the average distance traveled on the autobahn vs. US interstate?

6: How many people use each?

7: How different is the vehicle makeup of each?

8: What is the DUI rate on the autobahn vs the interstate (DUIs account for half of all traffic fatalities in the US)?

That is a good starter.

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1 the rating is death per million miles traveled So size and distance makes no difference.

2 Germany is not a little back water country the have a very urban areas and traffic congestion is a very real problem

3 DUI is another very real problem in Germany...

Speed Limits are TAXES

If the government was really worried about safety then there would be more training for drivers with retesting every 10 years.

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Originally Posted by Ya_know

Escape, have you ever been unexpectedly sideswiped and forced into an uncontrollable spin at high speeds, then crossing over into oncoming traffic lanes only to strike another car, while doing the current posted speed limit of 50 MPH? Have you ever had a blow out on a front wheel at high speeds? Or the best one I can recal, had to avoid a wheel and tire bouncing down the road at 65 while the car that lost it was sliding out of control alongside of you? I have done all three. Let me tell you something...it takes allot of cold sweat sleepless nights to decompress from having survived near death experiences to get back out there on the road and keep up with traffic, especially at the speeds of today’s roads.

Honestly, Speeding is a killer when coupled with the wrong circumstances it can really mess you up! You should take the time to go to a few salvage yards where they store some of the total losses with. If you can find the drivers seat on some of the real bad ones, look for the blood, and pieces of scalp, hair and face fused into the shattered windshields, and the baby seats crushed under the weight of a multiple rollover…Cars today are made to perform very well, and very comfortably at very high speeds. But none of them are capable of guaranteeing your life at any speeds over 35 Miles per hour. Even at speeds that slow you could be killed, but as you increase things, the odds of death increscent exponentially.


Again, al lot of sleepless nights my man, if you haven’t been through any of those, you don’t know what you are talking about!

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Done all that and more... It's not the speed that make those situations a danger it is the driver... And as for blowing tires I have blown a tire in my fathers Explorer and didn't flip you know why ???? I didn't slam in the breaks I hit the gas until the tire was gone and then slowed down slowly... Once again I restate it is the drivers that cause accidents NOT speed.

Speed Limits = TAXES

Read this Link

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Originally Posted by meatwad

I would imagine the likelihood of a fatality from a blowout at 135 is a little higher than at 55.

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I lost a front tire at about 110mph, sidewall blew out. I knew it happened, because I watched the sidewall disappear, rolling down the highway, with little other indication of problem. I knew that would change, so braced myself and took my foot off the gas. At about 65, the front tire went flat, and I went for a ride. Got it under control , changed the tire, and hit it, tech emergency, you know? Rotational force can keep the shape, just don't slow down! Or, stress the tire at all!

Speed is one of those things you must prepare for. Few in America today do. JMHO.

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Originally Posted by Escape_Driver

1 the rating is death per million miles traveled So size and distance makes no difference.

2 Germany is not a little back water country the have a very urban areas and traffic congestion is a very real problem

3 DUI is another very real problem in Germany...

Speed Limits are TAXES

If the government was really worried about safety then there would be more training for drivers with retesting every 10 years.

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Well, that addresses two of my questions adequately, but how about trying to find answers for #s: 2, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8. Both #1 and #3 of mine were addressed by your first point while your second is irrelevant and third is unspecific.

Last second addition: I found that 1/4 statistic you were talking about. Let me post it and see if you can spot where it falls flat on its face.

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Originally Posted by Nevada Journal

To take a famous example, consider the West German superhighways, the autobahnen, where drivers are subject to no speed limit. In the most recently reported period, 1997, the fatality rate was only 0.74 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven. Contrast that with Nevada which—thanks to political lobbying by state highway patrol officers—has the dubious benefit of a 75 mph state speed limit, and fatalities are 400 percent higher. Nevada’s rate during 1997 was three deaths per 100 million vehicle miles.

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