NTSB urges Mandate to Limit the Speed of new Vehicles to the Posted Speed limit.

[bbhero]

Both of those are the absolute sign of stupidity. Don't get me wrong, I like a low car, but I'd like to actually use the tire's full contact patch for grip.

More tire patch on the pavement always = better results.

 

[bbhero]

Nothing stops states to fix roads from their own money, and not California’s or Colorado’s etc.
That corrupt big entity finances KY for example with $2.24 for every $1 KY pays in taxes. CA gets $0.64 for every $1.
So, I think criticism is wrongly aimed.

Nah it’s correct…. Broke states too… Many of them out there….

We are on the down hill slide into a horrible circumstance…

I sincerely hope I am wrong about this…

But I have had this feeling for quite a long time now…. We are talking about 15 plus years.. And I haven’t seen much to make me think a different outcome is possible.

 

[edyvw]

Speed absolutely is an issue because of the physics of the situation. More speed results in worse consequences when they do happen. And, frankly, as obnoxious as the two examples you show are, the vast majority of vehicle incidents I see aren’t weird vehicles or jalopies, but normal cars where people got out in front of their skill for the conditions.

The point about Germany is always interesting. Thing is, long stretches of autobahn aren’t really there. There are tons of caravans and trucks, some from Eastern Europe wearing the 60-80km/hr limit sticker. Any time there’s an exit, the autobahn drops to 100 km/h or below. It’s more varied, more controlled in many areas…

It is the multitude of issues in Germany, mostly stemming from the austerity policies of Angela Markel. They just did not keep up with the increased population, and economy. Not only did she screw over Germany, she screwed over the whole EU.
Interesting data from the Economist is that the EU and the US had almost the same size of economy in 2007. The current economy of the US is 40% bigger than EU, and those 40% definitely did not go away with the UK.

 

[edyvw]

Nah it’s correct…. Broke states too… Many of them out there….

We are on the down hill slide into a horrible circumstance…

I sincerely hope I am wrong about this…

But I have had this feeling for quite a long time now…. We are talking about 15 plus years.. And I haven’t seen much to make me think a different outcome is possible.

You have the luxury to think about these things or have feelings.
It is that old issue in politics; Congress has 9% approval, while local congressmen have 90% approval.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

People in my area seem to not know or care about the feature on cars that are so helpful and safe, A freaking turning signal. They also have many wrecks when someone flies thru the yellow light that turns red and someone waiting for a green shoots out and BOOM ! Both vehichles are basically destroyed (Demolition derby style) and hopefully no one dies. Stop signs are another issue. They seem to think a stop sign means you race as fast as you can to see who can get thru that the fastest (of course here also you do not use turn signals!) Ugh,
So often I want to pull over and ask them "Do you realize or know there is a feature named the turn signal in cars n trucks?" Odds are they curse you out or aim a gun..... Very sad the lack of humanity and patience these days by most everyone.

 

[FranklinJL]

This is terrible. They already limit the speed on HP vehicles. My C63s is limited to 180mph from the factory. Of course that's been fixed lol. The GT500 is 190mph. Same for an M5.

 

[Skippy722]

This is terrible. They already limit the speed on HP vehicles. My C63s is limited to 180mph from the factory. Of course that's been fixed lol. The GT500 is 190mph. Same for an M5.

Most vehicles are governed. My Grand Caravan is 112mph, Ram 1500 108mph, Charger R/T is 155, my 300 was governed to 130, Durango 118mph.

The Caliber I have no idea, I didn’t have the lack of sense, balls big enough, or an empty stretch of road long enough to keep it pegged at 6,000rpm while the JATCO CVT screamed in agony to find out

 

[Soft Cars]

Most vehicles are governed. My Grand Caravan is 112mph, Ram 1500 108mph, Charger R/T is 155, my 300 was governed to 130, Durango 118mph.

The Caliber I have no idea, I didn’t have the lack of sense, balls big enough, or an empty stretch of road long enough to keep it pegged at 6,000rpm while the JATCO CVT screamed in agony to find out

My Buick is limited to 108 mph like your Ram is. I wonder how they come up with those numbers.

 

[Skippy722]

My Buick is limited to 108 mph like your Ram is. I wonder how they come up with those numbers.

Probably the tires the manufacturer equips at the factory. Mine were Goodyear Wrangler SR-A’s with a “R” speed rating of 106mph IIRC. The van came with T (118mph) rated tires. @CapriRacer might be able to shed some light on this though?

 

[alarmguy]

They don't store that much. They store the metadata that shows that the transmission took place. The don't record the calls. That's too much data. They'd have to actively be doing the traditional "phone tapping" to actually save that data. There's not enough bandwidth in the world to record every phone call that takes place. From my understanding the actual text data is still too much, but it can be accessed further from the provider, though the NSA does see that a message was sent.

Sure, lets have speed limits. The problem is laws only keep honest people honest. I don't drive illegal speeds in daily driving, but I didn't modify my car to only drive the speed limit. There's the proper time and place for it and a busy public road isn't the place for an exhibition of speed.

Speed limits are the law, if we determine it’s safe to speed we are breaking the law.

You are partially correct as far as NSA but we can be sure it’s more than you imagine. Pretty extensive and this was a story 10 years ago. Almost the darks ages in technology.

https://www.propublica.org/article/nsa-data-collection-faq

 

[Torrid]

Speed limits are the law, if we determine it’s safe to speed we are breaking the law.

You are partially correct as far as NSA but we can be sure it’s more than you imagine. Pretty extensive and this was a story 10 years ago. Almost the darks ages in technology.

https://www.propublica.org/article/nsa-data-collection-faq

I’m sure they’ve collected more as they are able to with tech advancements.

 

[OVERKILL]

Death rate is calculated per million driven miles. So, how much someone individually drives is irrelevant. There is a thing called methodology. So, yes, what size is Germany is absolutely irrelevant.

Speed is not a problem. But, I would NOT like to have roads in the US without speed limit. When I drive in Europe it is stress free 120mph. When I drive here it is mile long line in left lane behind some Subaru Outback with tires that have steel belt popping out, both hands on steering wheel and eyes fixed 3ft in front of the hood. Nothing else exists, including work zone speed limit. When that Outback starts rolling at 65mph in 75mph zone, there is no change in speed, regardless that work zone has 35mph speed limit.
Then, let’s not forget technical inspections, where to register a car in Germany one has to:
1. Pass alignment test.
2. Brake fluid be at or below 2% moisture level.
3. Tires have minimum 4mm and be same brand, model and size.
4. Shocks have same resistance.
5. Pass visual inspection while machine is abusing your suspension.
6. Brakes pass force test.

That is after one has to pass written exam, pass closed test that includes parallel parking, garage parking (reverse) and moving at hill after stopping under hand brake (car cannot turn off-manual). Then passing street test.

So yeah, not sure I want here no speed limit where local driving school that is close to me more often than not has kids driving in left lane with high beams on.

Yes, that was precisely my point when I said this:

"It's not the speed limits that are the issue, it's lack of driver training, discipline and enforcement, coupled with non-existent safety enforcement. "

Followed by pictures of vehicles that would never be allowed on the road in Germany.

 

[zzyzzx]

NHTSA proposed a speed governor on new cars in the early ‘70s. The proposal generated a huge number of comments, the vast majority being against it. I don’t think any other NHTSA proposed regulation has generated a larger response.

The difference now is that you could generate the same number of complaints, or more, and they probably won't care.

 

[OVERKILL]

Speed absolutely is an issue because of the physics of the situation. More speed results in worse consequences when they do happen. And, frankly, as obnoxious as the two examples you show are, the vast majority of vehicle incidents I see aren’t weird vehicles or jalopies, but normal cars where people got out in front of their skill for the conditions.

The point about Germany is always interesting. Thing is, long stretches of autobahn aren’t really there. There are tons of caravans and trucks, some from Eastern Europe wearing the 60-80km/hr limit sticker. Any time there’s an exit, the autobahn drops to 100 km/h or below. It’s more varied, more controlled in many areas…

My point is more that limiting car traffic on the highway to 70mph via an electronic nanny isn't going to reduce the rate of collisions, because that rate isn't driven by speed, it's driven by the other factors I mentioned:

"It's not the speed limits that are the issue, it's lack of driver training, discipline and enforcement, coupled with non-existent safety enforcement."

People out-driving their skillset, and not being aware that they are doing so, falls squarely in there.

Mall Crawlers, hoopties, "stance"...etc, I'm not saying they are the primary driver of collisions, or even close, but they are a symptom of a bigger problem. Their existence on our roads highlights the lack of rigorous enforcement.

As you note, Germany doesn't have unrestricted speeds everywhere. The system is reasonably configured, but they DO have unrestricted sections. These don't turn into carmageddon because of the focus on the things that myself, you, and @edyvw have all mentioned. Vehicles and their operation in Germany are treated far more seriously than they are in North America, and this is why, despite having unrestricted sections of highway, Germany is safer.

Let me use an example here. Let's say "JC" has a clapped-out vehicle that should never pass a safety inspection, but somehow, it's on the road legally. JC is knowingly riding on tires that aren't safe but that doesn't stop JC from driving 110+mph and engaging in dangerous racing behaviour when traffic is present, on sections of road where the posted limit is almost half that, on his phone the entire time so he can post these dangerous shenanigans to Youtube. Is the problem the posted limit, or is the problem JC?

 

[edyvw]

Yes, that was precisely my point when I said this:

"It's not the speed limits that are the issue, it's lack of driver training, discipline and enforcement, coupled with non-existent safety enforcement. "

Followed by pictures of vehicles that would never be allowed on the road in Germany.

I was actually trying to reconfirm your point. Maybe didn’t came out that way.

 

[brianl703]

. Let's say "JC" has a clapped-out vehicle that should never pass a safety inspection, but somehow, it's on the road legally.

"JC"'s clapped-out vehicle that won't pass a safety inspection probably has multiple defects that a cop could pull it over for, but the cops don't bother to enforce that.

 

[OVERKILL]

I was actually trying to reconfirm your point. Maybe didn’t came out that way.

All good

 

[OVERKILL]

"JC"'s clapped-out vehicle that won't pass a safety inspection probably has multiple defects that a cop could pull it over for, but the cops don't bother to enforce that.

BINGO!

The lack of enforcement also emboldens people like JC to behave in the manner they do because they feel they can do so with impunity.

 

[brianl703]

BINGO!

The lack of enforcement also emboldens people like JC to behave in the manner they do because they feel they can do so with impunity.

Now, if the cops saw "JC"'s vehicle leave a "known drug house", they MIGHT use one of the defects on "JC"'s vehicle as a pretext to stop him, because they think his vehicle might have drugs in it. That seems to be about the only reason cops ever pull someone over with a blown light or bald tires or other equipment defect. Something's a little wrong with that, I think.

 

[JHZR2]

It is the multitude of issues in Germany, mostly stemming from the austerity policies of Angela Markel. They just did not keep up with the increased population, and economy. Not only did she screw over Germany, she screwed over the whole EU.
Interesting data from the Economist is that the EU and the US had almost the same size of economy in 2007. The current economy of the US is 40% bigger than EU, and those 40% definitely did not go away with the UK.

Maybe… but 80km/hr limited trucks are a bad mix with no speed limit, even if there were more lanes.

My experience is that the speed limits drop really fast when nearing exits. Doesn’t matter how roads keep up with population, more population means more exits, means more speed variation.

And all of this still doesn’t recognize the massively increased inertia, and massively increased fuel burn that occurs with speed.