Transport Canada: 7 in 10 admit to speeding

[jacksparrow]

I was reading this in the elevator into work today. Well....the figures are in. Wasn't it last week we were talking about speeding and all that and how dangerous it can be by increasing the likelihood of an accident, and some were going as far as justifying their speeding?

Bottoline is, speeding increases the chances of you losing control, and this is evident looking at racing like F1, where the drivers have training to handle fast cars


Source: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/071111/n111111A.html

[asif9t9]

Yeah, but according to all the speeders, BECAUSE we all speed already, it should be legal. Somehow that's called democracy. Safety doesn't matter.

[my0gr81]

Or arbitrarily low speed limits and/or speed limit changes within a very short distance designed to maximize fine/revenue intake potential with no regards to safety.

[nfitz]

Given that everyone in this thread is posting from Ontario. When they reduced the speed limit from 112.5 km/hr on the 400-series highway, they made it clear that this wasn't a safety issue, but a fuel consumption issue. Given that most people on a 400-series highway are closer to 112 km/hr than 100 km/hr ... then why is speeding a safety issue?

Personally, I feel very unsafe driving 100 km/hr on a rural 400-series highway, with all the trucks roaring past me.

[Tezster]

*Everyone* speeds (by that I mean 99% of drivers), so no one should be surprised about about those figures. If anything, I'm surprised the numbers aren't higher.

A large part of it is merely following the flow of traffic, and never driving faster than the posted speed limit is only safer if everyone else is doing the same thing, and that isn't exactly a reasonable expectation i.e. it will never happen.

[Q]

I find this key in the article:

Even if speeders are in perfect control of their vehicle, their speed will haunt them in the event that another driver gets in their way and causes an accident, he added.

"When you look at collision crashes, speeding itself is often not the actual cause of the collision, however, speeding is always an aggravating factor in the collision - the occupant would've been less injured or would've survived if they had been closer to the speed limit," Marchand said.


If everyone is doing 120 then there is no one to cut you off at a slower speed.

Going to winsor this weekend I noticed this:

On way there I only drove with the flow of traffic of most vehicles. I drove between 110- 130.

On way back I set my cruise at 119. I was passed by way more cars than I was passing.

While I can't argue higher speed will cause more damage....simple physics really. I will argue forever that in many cases it was not the speed that caused the accident and therefore not the root cause.

Find the dangerous drivers who are afraid to press there gas pedal and enter the highway at 80km. Find the drivers making unsafe lane changes. Find the drivers weaving in and out of traffic much faster than the flow of traffic. These are drivers causing the accidents.

While I don't drive 150km/hr because I am not willing to take the risk of insurance and other penalities. In proper conditions and proper road (ie straight) I don't see faster speed dangerous.

[jacksparrow]

Q.....does that straight road include residential areas as well then? I just don't condone speeding in anyway shape or form, and don't understand why people buy cars with a lot of BHP, you are never going to be able to take it to the fullest on the hwy and roads, so why bother with a car that has 200-400 BHP?

Quebec apparently is introducing a similar law now where your license gets suspended for a week. A presenter on CFRB was saying this morning how he witnessed a father with kids in the back doing way over 150 in a residential area

The car impoundment thing is rubbish, I think the cars should just be crushed. There will be far less cars on the roads, and it will be safer, because everyone else will come back to their senses then

[JoeSoap]

It doesn't matter what speed you drive at as "Everyone who drives faster than you is an idiot, and everyone who drives slower than you is a moron".

I can't cite the source as it has been way too long since I first heard it.

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by JoeSoap

I can't cite the source as it has been way too long since I first heard it.

... or first uttered it?

[powerstream]

Personally, I feel very unsafe driving 100 km/hr on a rural 400-series highway, with all the trucks roaring past me.

Exactly. You have to drive at a speed where you keep up with traffic. If you drive too fast or too slow you're much more likely to be involved in an accident. On the 400 series highway 99% of the drivers go above 100 km/h. Those who set their cruise to 100 km/h are just a nuisance and they pose a risk to other drivers because they drive too slow for conditions. On the other hand those *******s that go 160 in a 100 also pose a danger to others because they drive too fast for conditions. Remember, this is not the Autobahn. Our highways are not maintained to the same standards as the ones in Germany, which is what allows them to have no national speed limit. If you hit a pothole, even a small one, at 200 km/h, you'd be in serious trouble.

[scrooloose]

I was driving down the QEW on Sunday doing 120 kph and EVERYONE was passing me! I think 30% of drivers are liars.

-Mike

[jacksparrow]

Originally Posted by powerstream

Exactly. You have to drive at a speed where you keep up with traffic. If you drive too fast or too slow you're much more likely to be involved in an accident. On the 400 series highway 99% of the drivers go above 100 km/h. Those who set their cruise to 100 km/h are just a nuisance and they pose a risk to other drivers because they drive too slow for conditions. On the other hand those *******s that go 160 in a 100 also pose a danger to others because they drive too fast for conditions. Remember, this is not the Autobahn. Our highways are not maintained to the same standards as the ones in Germany, which is what allows them to have no national speed limit. If you hit a pothole, even a small one, at 200 km/h, you'd be in serious trouble.

So you think 150 on the hwy 400 is ideal then, even if you have kids in the back? Just because everybody is speeding, doesn't mean you have to, it's things like that, that leads to chain reactions. I always give myself enough for emergency, unlike those nincompoops that like to tailgate

[Q]

My personal belief is that residential roads are mainly good +/- 10km/hr

These types of roads with intersections, pedestrians, frequent stopping etc. should never be any higher.

As I have already stated. There should be very harsh penalties for school zone areas while school is in.

My main argument is that I believe they are targeting the wrong thing in the list first. If they really cared about people's saftey I can think of other and more usefull ways to do it.

I can only comment on highways that I drive on so please take that into account. I feel if people actually knew the left lane is supposed to be for passing only our highway would be perfectly safe with a 100-110 slow speed lane, 110-120 middle lane and 120-130 fast lane speed.

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by jacksparrow

I always give myself enough for emergency, unlike those nincompoops that like to tailgate

Oh, that I can agree on! Though if you read the driving manual, the recommended distance is virtually impossible to obtain much of the time in the GTA (3 car lengths at 100 km/hr isn't it?). I've tried a couple of times, and people kept pulling in so frequently, and I kept slowing down to recover the space, that everyone behind me would get agitated and try and overtake me, even though they were doing the sampe speed!

Perhaps more than 3 lengths - it's been a decade or so since I tried to do that ... it was clearly far more dangerous than using a somewhat shorter stopping distance - similar to what everyone else uses.

I just love the ones that are so close you can't see their licence plate. (yeah, if someone there is reading this, if your cruising behind me so closely, that I can't see your licence plate, and you stay there for a minute or two, and I can't safely move over or accelerate forward then you are putting both of our lives in danger and I start gradually slow down and start letting the cars on my right pass me, so that I can find a safe place behind them).

[haystack]

I start gradually slow down and start letting the cars on my right pass me, so that I can find a safe place behind them

If you don't mantain the speed limit you might have just broken the new raceing law when you slowed down the trafic behind you.
from the new law

to cause another vehicle to stop or slow down in circumstances where the other vehicle would not ordinarily do so,