On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 8:00 AM, Philippe <photo.philippe.amard@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
>
>
> As to the way they now set the limits you describe, I'm daily comforted in
> the idea they know better than me what speed is deemed to be acceptable for
> ALL vehicles - from old VW Beetles to the latest RS7 quattro …
> I'm thinking of rain, wind, snow, flooding, schools, side streets, etc.
>
In the US, the speed limits on the interstate system were arbitrarily set
to 55MPH back in the 70's during the "fuel crisis" based on faulty research
that showed 55 as the golden number for optimum fuel economy. 55MPH on a
four- or six-lane highway through the wilds of Iowa or such was insane.
Even after it was proven that the math was wrong, the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration kept everyone hobbled at 55. There were
several theories, including on that said the insurance lobby was pushing to
keep it artificially low, knowing that people would speed, accumulate
tickets, and in turn get their insurance rates jacked up. All of the
studies that purported to show that if you exceeded 55MPH on a highway, you
were pretty much guaranteed to be involved in a multi-car bloodbath were
all funded by the insurance industry.
Eventually, common sense prevailed, and the speed limit on most US highways
now has been raised to 70MPH, which is the speed almost everyone had been
driving all along.
As to manipulating speed limits in order to make a speed trap - that's a
real thing. There's a road by us where it drops from 55MPH to 40MPH to
30MPH in a way that you can't possibly reduce speed that much in an
organic, safe manner without slamming on your brakes. And quite often,
squad cars park behind both signs knowing that nobody can hit the targets
by the time they see the sign. It's a great source of revenue for the town.
--
Paul Braun WD9GCO
Certified Music Junkie
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Berthold Auerbach
--
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