2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (henning) (06/20/84)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh The autobahn was used as an example of why unlimited speeds are better. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. The autobahn is a much better constructed highway than our interstates. The German drivers are much better disciplined in high speed driving. And still the death rate on the autobahn is much worse than anything here. The accidents are unbelievably gory. They have helicopter ambulances to come and scrape up the victims. One good thing is that at high speeds the debris seldom ends up on the highway.
chrisp@oliven.UUCP (06/21/84)
>Steve Henning >The autobahn was used as an example of why unlimited speeds are better. >WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. The autobahn is a much better constructed highway >than our interstates. The German drivers are much better disciplined >in high speed driving. And still the death rate on the autobahn is >much worse than anything here. The accidents are unbelievably gory. >They have helicopter ambulances to come and scrape up the victims. >One good thing is that at high speeds the debris seldom ends up on >the highway. I assume that you have direct experience of the German system. I don't. It should be noted, however that the Germans imposed a speed limit of 100 kph (= 62.5 mph) in 1974 and removed the limit in 1976. When the limit was removed, the fatality rate dropped by 10%. So if you think it was a blood bath during your experience, it was significantly worse with the speed limit in force. The British had the same result from raising the motorway speed limit from 55 mph to 70 mph in '76. You would do well to note that in spite of a speed limit of 100 kph on non-autobahnen (2 lane roads, etc.) there is a bigger diferential in fatality rates between their surface roads and ours than there is between the autobahns and the freeways. (An interesting point about the wreckage usually clearing the road.) Finally, if you start disecting the fatality statistics for the U.S. over the last decade, it becomes apparent that the 55 mph limit has CAUSED about 10% of the highway fatalities since it went in! The figures also contains grounds to question the official assertion that the limit has reduced fuel consumption. I suspect that the limit is also implicated in the increase in red signal running and similar foolishness of the last decade. 55 KILLS Chris Prael
kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) (06/22/84)
I, too, am skeptical of numbers showing Autobahn death rates tied to
high (non-existant) speed limits...last time I was over there the radio
in the car I was riding in "went off" (it seems there is some kind of
announcement system setup where you turn your radio on, but it remains
muted until a special broadcast signal comes over, whereupon it comes
to life and you can listen to whatever important announcement is floating
by). Anyway, this happened, and the announcer said there was a "ghost driver"
on one of the autobahns...A ghost driver is one driving on the wrong side
of the freeway. Apparently they are pretty commonplace, and are regularly
tracked on the radio. One can imagine what that does to accident rates......
This could also have something to do with higher surface street accident
rates, since it is much easier to get confused (or at least, I thought
so) as to which side to drive on on a surface street then on a freeway
with arrows and lines, etc.
--
Ken Shoemaker, Intel, Santa Clara, Ca.
{pur-ee,hplabs,amd,scgvaxd,dual,idi,omsvax}!intelca!kds
---the above views are personal. They may not represent those of Intel.marcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (06/23/84)
Actually, the death in terms of highway miles over all roads in France and Germany is about double that of USA and UK. I believe the figures (dredged from my memory of an article in the Economist last summer) are something like this: USA 2.1 UK 2.4 Germany 4.0 France 4.5 figures are for deaths per 100 thousand highway miles per year. Don't take the units too seriously - it could be 100 million... marcus hand (pyuxt!marcus)
stuart@sdchema.UUCP (Stuart Oatley) (06/23/84)
The speed limit on British motorways was never 55mph. The limit on non-divided roads was reduced from 70mph to 50mph in the times of the '73 oil crisis, but this was subsequently raised to 60mph. There is some discussion at present about raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph.
mat@hou5d.UUCP (06/23/84)
The 55 mph limit has one troublesome effect -- it keeps cars on the road
longer.
During rush hours it is impossible to maintain the 2-second cushion that
we should. We have to watch three or four cars ahead in order to react in
time.
So what does the reduced speed do? It keeps cars on the road longer, results
in saturation longer, and forces drivers to endure more fatigue for longer
periods.
Yes, there are holes in the above argument. Let's hear some discussions of
the holes!
--
from Mole End Mark Terribile
(scrape .. dig ) hou5d!mat
,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*. (soon hou4b!mat)marcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (06/25/84)
Mark, you should be watching more than three to four cars ahead in any conditions let alone during the 55+ mph parkway rush hour. marcus hand (pyuxt!marcus)