Syrinx - Driving below the speed limit - Comments

Dear colleague...

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:38:03 -0600

Excuse me while I rant: In November of 2005 someone exceeding the speed limit and using a cell phone slammed into Dan's Mazda hatchback on the drivers side - with such a force that the car spun several times before it hit a building. Daniel was injured and the car was completely destroyed. That person then got out of the car and called his lawyer and never once asked how Daniel was. People came running to Daniel's assistance not just in horror of the accident but because they could not believe the speed the guy was traveling at - or the callous manner he displayed by not even asking if the person he hit was either alive or ok. As a one car household we decided to turn this ugly experience into something good by the purchase of our hybrid car. The example I do not want to follow is the one shown to us by the guy that hit Daniel. Needless to say we don't exceed speed limits or use cell phones while driving. Last month we witnessed an accident and we stopped to help as others drove by. The person who caused the accident was speeding through a red light and lied to the police about it. Turns out we were instrumental in how that case turned out (positive for the victim). I just have to think about something my father used to say.."never become the thing you hate". Right now that would be the guy that hurt Daniel and interrupted our lives in a way that was sudden - as I got that phone call you never want to get. I have a hard time imaging someone like that (the person who hit Daniel) would care very much about air quality - so the hybrid car seems like divine justice to me.

clear and present danger

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:42:51 -0600

Well, back in the 1970s, after Mr. Nixon took the US off the gold standard and OPEC responded by raising prices on oil, one of the ways in which the guvmint responded was to lower speed limits to a maximum of 55. Not only does driving at slower speeds improve miles per gallon gas mileage (less wind drag at lower speed) overall, it correlates with lower collision rates (I can't bear to call them "accidents" when they are so often inevitable given the circumstances). I find that, when on the interstate highways, that setting the cruise control at the speed limit is the simplest solution. Since most people drive at least 5 mph above the speed limit, (or some multiple of 5) you get to drive pretty much alone in the gaps between the packs of cars traveling 10 feet apart at 75 - 90 mph.

Rules of the road

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:53:23 -0600

There are lots of reasons for the irritation at people driving at the speed limit. I think the main reason people are frustrated at the speed limit business is because North Americans (of which I am one) do not understand that you should always drive on the right, EXCEPT if you are passing someone else. If you're driving at the speed limit, you should be in the right lane, and someone wishing to pass simply goes around you. The second reason is that our roads are routinely built for speeds which far exceed the poste speed limits -- the 501 was designed for speeds of 140-160, same with the 407. That makes for pretty boring drives. The third is that speed limits are fixed and so rarely appropriate. Why would 100km/h be OK on a sunny, empty highway in the summer and 100km/h is still ok on a snowy or wet road in the middle of the night? That makes no sense. The next reason is that the gas argument holds no water (ahem). Perhaps, instead of a speed limit, we should have an "emissions" limit -- you could go 5 mph in a Yukon and 140mph in a Prius. The point is simply that car choice is a bigger factor than speed, so if we want to reduce emissions, make the cars cleaner, and make big cars unattainable -- don't make Yaris drivers go 80 km/h in the left lane of the 401. That's just plain... frustrating.

driving at the speed limit

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 10:20:20 -0600

Sometimes it helps to use the cruise control on the highway
It's not safe to read and drive, but audio books can do a lot to pass the time while getting from here to there. I've listened to Moll Flanders, The Diary of Elizabeth Frankenstein, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this year whilst commuting to work and such. Somehow it keeps your mind off the obstacles and the idiots on the road.
yoga breathing

Driving below the speed limit

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:53:19 -0600

I find it fascinating to see how severely upset people get when they come upon someone having the nerve to drive the speed limit. I used to drive about 20 km/h over the speed limit on a regular basis. I got very few speeding tickets over the years, and I never had an accident as a result of my speeding. But I was simply very, very lucky.