Speeding is safer

[Nashy]

So now it comes down to me being a wimp, or having a shoddy car?

Right, I drive a 2003 Ford Falcon. One of Australia's biggest and safest sedans. It can go faster than I drive, and if I wanted to I would. The fact is, I don't. I drive at a safe speed.

You can't say that the people who arn't breaking the law are the dangerous ones, thats just ignorant and pig headed.

[Nose Nuggets]

you guys are way over analyzing it. its not as simple and clean cut as what you are making it out to be. going fast is not inherently unsafe.

but wanting to kill people who speed on the freeway is wrong. there is no gray area there.

@Nashy

explain to me how exceeding the speed limit is dangerous. just that in itself. 66mph in a 65mph zone is dangerous, and to object to that is ignorant and pig headed.

[Nashy]

120MPH.

Tell me what happens when your tire blows

Tell me what happens when your tire blows and there are cars in the surrounding lanes

Tell me what happens if the person ahead of you needs to break suddenly

Tell me what happens if wildlife jumps onto the road

Tell me what happens is a bit of debris hits your windshield and shatters it

So many things can go wrong in a car, and the higher the speed, the more you risk killing yourself and others.

[Nose Nuggets]

120MPH.

Tell me what happens when your tire blows

Tell me what happens when your tire blows and there are cars in the surrounding lanes

Tell me what happens if the person ahead of you needs to break suddenly

Tell me what happens if wildlife jumps onto the road

Tell me what happens is a bit of debris hits your windshield and shatters it

So many things can go wrong in a car, and the higher the speed, the more you risk killing yourself and others.

a) you hold the steering wheel straight and apply the brakes slowly, then pull off the road once you have reached a reasonable speed.

b) shouldn't matter if you follow a). there is always the possibility of debris if you have an actual "blowout" but cars, light trucks, and SUVs rarely if ever have a blow out. usually its just a flat tire that flops around the wheel. but even so, the debris is completely out of your realm of control, and if you did in fact have a blow out it was caused by your lack of sufficient maintenance and would have happened eventually regardless of speed.

c) there are few reasons why you should be braking on the freeway. but chances are you aren't following anyone, your either in an empty lane or moving around. in either case, changing lanes and simply avoiding the driver in front is the optimal choice.

d) you hit it

e) the same thing you would do at 25 mph. you would apply the brakes and pull over to the side of the road

not many thing can go wrong with a car that would cause a violent accident. short of the engine seazing or 2 or more wheels locking up instantly for some reason i cant fathom. other then that cars are very predictable. there are no magical outside forces that cause cars to slide or spin or anything of that nature. if your unable to controll a car in anything but optiman conditions YOU are the danger on the road. not me.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Talking about a flat tire when going fast on highway, I'd say that your luck pretty much depends on which wheel it is. Imho it's a lot more dangerous to get a front flat tire, than rear.

[Nose Nuggets]

Talking about a flat tire when going fast on highway, I'd say that your luck pretty much depends on which wheel it is. Imho it's a lot more dangerous to get a front flat tire, than rear.

its a little more challenging with a front flat because you loose some steering. but its nothing catastrophic.

[TheElite]

120MPH.

Tell me what happens when your tire blows

Tell me what happens when your tire blows and there are cars in the surrounding lanes

Tell me what happens if the person ahead of you needs to break suddenly

Tell me what happens if wildlife jumps onto the road

Tell me what happens is a bit of debris hits your windshield and shatters it

So many things can go wrong in a car, and the higher the speed, the more you risk killing yourself and others.

A good driver would get in trouble in this situation, but the average person would make a disaster of this situation even if they were only doing 60MPH, let alone 120.

[beardedwonder]

you guys are way over analyzing it. its not as simple and clean cut as what you are making it out to be. going fast is not inherently unsafe.

A study by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has concluded that the raising of speed limits in many states has led to an increase in deaths. It studied statistics from states where the limits on rural interstate highways had been raised from 65mph to 70 or 75mph and found that deaths rose by 35 percent on roads where 70mph was now allowed, and 38 percent on the 75mph roads - an extra 1100 fatalities. "Wherever vehicle speeds increase death rates also increase", says IIHS chief scientist Allan Williams, "and the reverse is true. In 1974 when the national maximum speed limit lowered the limits across the country to 55mph, fatality rates dropped significantly."

http://geo.channel4.com/4car/news/news-sto...amp;ref=archive

Germany, which has autobahns famous for their lack of speed limits, has a motorway death rate that is 75% higher than in the UK.

http://www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=488#_ftnref3

[Nose Nuggets]

A good driver would get in trouble in this situation, but the average person would make a disaster of this situation even if they were only doing 60MPH, let alone 120.

i dont think it takes a good driver. but your right about the average driver.

the speed only really makes a difference if you have to worry about other cars. in an open environment the car would react almost the same at 120 as it would at 60.

[TheElite]

I don't know what sort of drivers the USA has, but in the UK, all dual carriageways and motorways are 70mph, unless work is being carried out.

We don't have THAT many accidents here even without putting the speed limit down. Maybe there are just more moronic drivers in the US causing all these deaths.

[rec_kris]

are people still using this post as a vehicle to brag about their "l337 skillz in drivingz!" ?

just because you played need for speed underground and saw tokyo drift does not give you the right to break the law and speed, putting others in danger

[Nose Nuggets]

I don't know what sort of drivers the USA has, but in the UK, all dual carriageways and motorways are 70mph, unless work is being carried out.

We don't have THAT many accidents here even without putting the speed limit down. Maybe there are just more moronic drivers in the US causing all these deaths.

you guys also have much stricter licensing requirements then we do here.

are people still using this post as a vehicle to brag about their "l337 skillz in drivingz!" ?

just because you played need for speed underground and saw tokyo drift does not give you the right to break the law and speed, putting others in danger

yeah. i suppose some of it can be contributed to people who play racing video games want to emulate it in real life. however it think it would still exist. they did street races in the 50's, long before video games.

where you talking directly at me? because of my previous post?

[The Rev]

FTLOG people.... just let this topic die. He's never going to change his mind until (or if, but more likely "until") he has a serious accident.

[bobbba]

"going fast is not inherently unsafe."

"explain to me how exceeding the speed limit is dangerous."

With this kind of attitude I get the feeling that one day you and the other "l337" drivers posting here will be learning the hard way, I just hope that no else has to be part of your lesson...

[Nose Nuggets]

im not arguing. im just having a discussion. its a good topic, people have some heated opinions.

@bobba

hehe. i had some scetchy events when i was a kid. i wont lie. but after having the ability drive to my harts content on a race track every single day, speed lost its novelty. not to say i dont drive faster then the speed limit on public roads ever, i just never drive more then 7/10th my ability.

[MiG-]

120MPH.

Tell me what happens when your tire blows

Tell me what happens when your tire blows and there are cars in the surrounding lanes

Tell me what happens if the person ahead of you needs to break suddenly

Tell me what happens if wildlife jumps onto the road

Tell me what happens is a bit of debris hits your windshield and shatters it

So many things can go wrong in a car, and the higher the speed, the more you risk killing yourself and others.

You Die. At 70mph, in my car, the situation would probably be the same...

Not like i can get 120mph out of my car :|

[Nose Nuggets]

You Die. At 70mph, in my car, the situation would probably be the same...

Not like i can get 120mph out of my car :|

damn. its kinda sad that you think you would die if your tire goes at 70mph.

scary.

[MiG-]

damn. its kinda sad that you think you would die if your tire goes at 70mph.

scary.

I wouldn't like to think i was trying to control my car at 70mph with a blown tire...

The way I see it:

On british motorways, in the daytime, you are usually surrounded by traffic... avoiding the whole lot whilst trying to get into the hard shoulder, whilst the tire is blown, trying to control the car..

So the chances of me not hitting anything ? Yea ok...

So if i do hit a car, at 70mph, in my car, i would probably make a mess of myself. :|

[beardedwonder]

damn. its kinda sad that you think you would die if your tire goes at 70mph.

scary.

While not a certainty, you could hit the crash barriers, veer off the road, get t-boned, get hit by faster moving traffic, get hit by bigger vehicles, oncoming traffic.... What i think's scary is the fact that you're so nonchalant about something so serious.

N.B.

Total loss of steering.

The spin was irretrievable

A tyre blowout doesn't sound like something that should be taken lightly.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

LOL - I had a blown tyre at 10mph, and there and then it could NOT turn a corner AT ALL!

I know, am taking the case out of reference, because at 10mph I could barely move the damned car! Cheap ass Toyo tyres ;)

[russellc]

While not a certainty, you could hit the crash barriers, veer off the road, get t-boned, get hit by faster moving traffic, get hit by bigger vehicles, oncoming traffic.... What i think's scary is the fact that you're so nonchalant about something so serious.

N.B.

A tyre blowout doesn't sound like something that should be taken lightly.

Yeah but these kids think they're invincible with their l337 driving skillz, so they don't care what you say.. or what any of the rest of us say unless we agree with them.

[TheElite]

Yeah well some people learn the hard way.

[Nose Nuggets]

well a blowout and a flat are very diferent. blowouts are really rare unless you dont like monitoring your tire wear.

in your Vid, Tif was at speed mid turn on a track. if your mid turn, and you have a front tire blow out, your in for a little chop. but if you in a straight line you will be ok as long as you don't freak out. the opening portion of the vid, the cop's dash cam, he was doing 121MPH when his tire blew out and almost immediately tried to pull it over to the shoulder. had he kept calm, slowly released throttle and then slowly applied the brake to minimize weight transfer he would have been fine.

but tire blow outs and flats dont have a WHOLE lot to do with the topic. its one scenario, thats not very common.

whats all this talk about leet driving skills? has anyone here suggested they are a top notch driver?

im just discussing the questions that arise here. im not saying im the end all be all source for information on the topic, i just have a lot of experience in the field of high performance driving. if you object to my views your more then welcome to voice it or get the hell out. but dont start rambling on about how people think they have leet skills and wont change there opinion. im very open minded but i have yet to see any reasonable arguments to contradict my own, i have however provided my opinion to most of the ones posted without lashing out (mostly).

[beardedwonder]

I think it's hilarious that you think having a tyre blow out at 70 mph isn't serious. As for the policeman comment, well if a road traffic officer can't control it to your standard then what chance do the rest of us have? Therefore a blow out at 70 mph is serious.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CiyjeRtArhI

Of course i'm sure it's the drivers fault!

[Nashy]

^ I'm not having a go at you or anything. But as a professional driver I'm sure you can understand how deadly a car can be.

While you might be a great driver, showing yourself as being a professional driver, and saying speeding isn't bad, while all these young, invincible people are reading maybe the wrong thing to do.

You're giving them a mind set, that if you think you're a good driver (don't get me wrong, you probably are a great driver, but chances are they are not), you can drive at fast speeds safely.

Chances are, these people would have no idea what to do if something happened at high speed, just because it happens very rarely, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Aircraft crashes happen very rarely, but pilots still need to know what to do. These drivers would have no idea.

Its all very well saying "slow down and pull over" at 120mph, with a busted tire, you are going to lose control, you are going to spin, and you will probably die.

I just can't see how people would want to condone something as dangerous as driving at such excessive speeds. It is nothing short of absolutely crazy.

And for the people who weave in and out of traffic at those speeds, you might aswell give up on life. You're either going to kill yourself, or rot in jail when you get done for manslaughter for killing an innocent victim because of your stupidity.