flow rider

[geForce]

[nature boy]

if caught in a riot and someone was trying to get out, then yeah, it's not his fault. but if they were just trying to walk home through a riot then they're an idiot.

at the same time, if traffic is flowing much faster than you are, and you're trying to get into the right lane and out of the way but get into an accident, then it's not your fault (depending on circumstance of accident of course). but if you're just driving speed limit totally oblivious to what's happening around you, then you're an idiot.

i just don't think that bad driving could be equated with speeding (as icbc states and tries to get everyone to believe). i DO, however, believe that bad driving is equated with those who are unaware with what is happening around them. look at the notorious richmond drivers for example, how many times were you cut off by someone and when you got around them and stared at them you find that they STILL have no idea that you're even there? being unaware leads to bad decisions and causes accidents. speed may cause larger accidents with more damage, but not necessarily more accidents.

[se7entse7en]

I don't think speed is the end-all be-all that ICBC claims either. But I do think that feeling like you have a right to drive faster than the slow-poke ahead is allowing you to (for whatever reason) leads to frustration, road-rage, poor decisions, aggressive driving, and accidents.

Take two cases on the exact same stretch of highway:
1) If I'm stuck behind someone going 75 in an 80 zone I'll be miffed but I'll grin and bear it.
2) If they're going 75 in a 100 zone I'll be pi$$ed.

Exact same road. Which brings me to the question... Why is it everytime I drive through the Sunshine Valley, the speed limit keeps alternating from 80 to 100 back to 80 again...??

[geForce]

Yes, I totally agree on all points there. Driver unawareness is the cause of a lot of bad driving...
I totally wasn't saying that speeders are the cause of accidents though. I was just saying drivers that are driving speed limit aren't either.

[nature boy]

all i was saying that driving out of the flow of traffic is dangerous, whether you're speeding or going speed limit. it's not a case to speed or not to speed, it's a case to drive with the current flow and conditions.

be a flow rider!
apple bottom jeans! boots with the fur! the whole club was lookin at her!

[joel]

i don't think driving out of the flow is necessarily dangerous. and i think that there is a correlation between speed and safety. obviously if you are driving faster you have less time to react, travel further when trying to stop, create more momentum in a collision, etc... the list goes on. But yes because you speed doesn't mean you are an unsafe driver... just less safe. if everyone drove at 1km/hr it would be basically impossible to die in a car accident (safe). of course you could get to your destination faster if you walked...

but if you are driving the posted speed limit and everyone else is driving 10k/m faster than you, i don't think you should be pressured to speed up. If you are on some type of one-lane freeway/highway etc.. then it's courteous to let a car pass but should not be obligatory.

usually there is a good reason for them to post different speed limits on the same road for specific stretches, maybe due to turns, curves, potential visual obstructions, expected traffic, animal crossing, etc... but those situations may be intermittent ones and not all the time.

[se7entse7en]

[nature boy]

[joel]

yeah i have no idea if they are reposting the speed limits on the same stretch every year... but i guess that means at least someone is looking at it regularly and must have figured some reason why... either that or the guy picks it out of a hat to see which it'll be each year.

in regards to over sensitivity in canada, it's better to err on the side of safety, no? i don't think anyone's died due to the cause of excessive rebar padding yet.

i am sure there most posted speed limits are significantly lower than what speed it would take for a car to fly off the road or come to a full stop in a reasonable distance, but each car can handle itself differently, and since speed limits are general i guess they have to consider the worse "reasonably likely" scenarios(the lowest common denominator)... i would assume that some engineer/traffic/car expert comes up with these limits but who knows..

[se7entse7en]

I guess I just find it disturbing that they consider going 20km/hr over the limit to be excessive speeding, yet they keep flip-flopping between 80 and a 100 on this one stretch of highway.

[nature boy]

yeah that's lame. i also don't like the speed limits on marine. 50 on that wide stretch of road? i guess we better protect the trees from being shaken up.

[nature boy]

back from the dead!
i just spent 15 minutes watching this relevant video:

[geForce]

This video is actually where I got my "grind my gears" comment from.

People are arguing "flow of traffic" and how the slower drivers (and by slow, I mean driving at the limit) are creating dangerous driving conditions. Yes, I agree that it's dangerous when there are groups of faster cars on the same highway as slower cars, but let's get one thing straight - it doesn't matter if the faster drivers are the majority on the highway, they are the ones breaking the law and creating dangerous conditions.

[nature boy]

hm interesting. so what comes first, the law or safety?

[geForce]

Safety. I also think the law is there to keep us safe. That means law and safety are the same.