High Speed Vs Low Speed

[poser765]

Also "Well I'm skilled enough that I can drive fast, but some people, I tell you what..."

- Everyone ever

Yeah it really butters my ass how many people think they are "good drivers" and that in some way excuses them for driving like an idiot. Just because someone watched Fast and the Furious or has the high score in Pole Position in no way means you are a better than average driver. The fact is, excessive speed IS a cause of many accidents. Also if you are driving at excessive speeds that pretty much disqualifies you from being a "good driver"

[vrsick]

Usually the people that speed past me on the highway as i go 80 are driving the shittiest rust buckets on the road and have no business driving that fast as the vehicle makes it much more unsafe. I usually keep it under 80mph but simple because i don't want a speeding ticket rather than feeling unsafe. I would be more than happy to be able to put my cruise control on a 100 without penalty. Although it seems like no one follows the left lane for passing only/faster traffic signs, so many times people going the exact speed limit drive in the left lane. Annoying as shit.

[Speaker]

"So my questions is: Is it the lower or higher speeds that cause more accidents"

"Poll: Which is safer for all road users?"

Despite every other factor your poll is un-votable because of this silly discrepancy

Lol, yeah. The poll is pretty much useless at this point. Who knows which one people answered to. I was about to answer based on his question. I don't usually read the poll titles...

[Skippy88]

I personally think speeds determine the amount of damage but are not the cause of the majority of accidents. The #1 cause of accidents is Texting/Cell Phones. #2 is eating. #3 is playing around with your Radio/CD player.

[Pitkanen]

Keep in mind that you have less time to react to an approaching danger, and it takes more time for your car to come to a stop, while you travel at higher speeds. And if you are unable to react, more damage occurs.

People driving slowly can have various reasons for doing so, distractions/multitasking, wanting to avoid a DUI... etc. The speed at which they travel isn't the issue, its the other thing.

I personally don't like driving over 75 in my V6 vehicle. I 'feel' like I have less control at those speeds. Back when I had a 1994 geo prism... that thing felt like it was going to explode post 65 mph.

[Rukentuts]

Yes please!

I'm tired of having to go 45 mph on a 6 lane highway with a median (very wide) for turning just because we're passing by some tiny ass towne.

There are definitely some zones, but not "almost all" should be 20mph bump.

[poser765]

Yes please!

I'm tired of having to go 45 mph on a 6 lane highway with a median (very wide) for turning just because we're passing by some tiny ass towne.

Tiny ass towns probably with traffic signals, turning and merging vehicles, and pedestrians.

[Epuration]

Actually, now that I think of it, there was an article, an interview with a Russian scientist in charge of a group that studies behavior of people during driving. He is saying, among other things, that after a certain speed a normal person is starting to lose attention to things in periphery of vision. I believe he says the speed when the tunnel vision really kicks in is 130 km/h for an average person. Here's a link, it's in Russian, though.

http://lenta.ru/articles/2013/08/13/madi/

I dont know about that... I tend to check my mirrors a lot more when speeding.

[smelltheglove]

Tiny ass towns probably with traffic signals, turning and merging vehicles, and pedestrians.

not if you're on the interstate. artificially low speed limits are a popular form of revenue generation, which i wish they would crack down on

[Deleted]

I freaking suck at driving, and not only that, I also seem to have a mild phobia or something ridiculous. I get shaky and sweaty hands just thinking about driving and avoid it as much as possible.. but alas, sometimes there's no other option.
So I drive slowly, even if that makes people hate me, it can't be helped. Not super slowly, of course, just.. a little below maximum allowed speed, even when the road is clear and open and straight and.. whatever else. I'd rather drive 40-45 in a 50 zone or 55-60 in a 70 zone..

[Bakis]

Slower is safer but people driving too much under the limit is dangerous indeed and cause alot of accidents but those people are very few.
Speeders on the other hand... they are not so few

[Prokne]

What causes accidents is differences in speed. If everyone is driving the same speed in the same direction there would be no accidents no matter how fast you go. The only difference between high speed and low speed accidents is that high speed causes more damage.

[QQingshaman]

The thing about high speeds and low speeds is that they are relative. If the speed limit is 50 in a zone where it should be 70 or 80, and everyone is going 80 that is safe. On the other side the person doing the posted speed limit is a danger as they are going much slower than traffic. So basically if one guy is goingt 30 over the pace of traffic? Dangerous. 30 under? Dangerous.

[OzoAndIndi]

Neither high nor low, could easily be both who are unsafe. Low could be a bad driver, have a slow reaction time or is simply an idiot. They may be less likely to be the cause, but going slower won't prevent an accident if their reaction time or instinct is too slow to prevent an accident. The plus side.. if weary of them, at least you can get away from them faster at a near normal speed.

High speed...depends on the actual speed and style of driving. If they simply are a bit heavy on the gas then prob just a twit that needs to pay more attention to their speed. However if they are weaving in and out of traffic and cutting close to other vehicles then I'd consider them a much higher threat than the slower person. Those individuals are a lot more careless and don't really give a damn about the lives around them which is really rude driving behavior. They are probably the people who the slow driver is going to end up in an accident with because they can't react fast enough and Mr./Mrs. speed demon thinks it's not their job to prevent it.

Both could cause an accident but the faster speed would lead to a worse one. Slow person left you with a big dent. Fast person left you thrown upside down and skidded across the median into the opposite lanes.

[poser765]

not if you're on the interstate. artificially low speed limits are a popular form of revenue generation, which i wish they would crack down on

I've been on more interstate than the average person. Can you point to me a single stretch of interstate were the speed limit is 45? Meh I'll even accept limited access highways with speed limits of 45.

[analmoose]

It's definitely lower speeds, at least for myself. When i'm in my truck doing 120km/h i am so utterly bored that i watch movies, or just daydream, and am constantly pulling myself off the shoulder back into the lane. When im on on of my bikes doing a steady 160-300km / h my eyes are wide open. I see everything. A bottlecap in the middle of the road, a gopher coming close to the road. My eyes are like a targetting system watching for shit i don;t want to hit. I'm a far better driver

P.S. I've been in one accident, it was on my bike, in town doing the speed limit (70km /h) Where someone in front of me slammed his brakes to make an apparently emergency turn left, while i was daydreaming behind him watching people and shit and rear ended him

[Porcell]

I think the problem is that speed itself is rarely the "cause" of an accident. Accidents happen at a variety of speeds and I'd actually put money down that the vast majority of accidents occur at or below the speed limit.

More than anything it is distracted driving. Talking on a cell phone, texting, changing a radio station, talking to someone else in the car. Generally not paying attention to the task at hand: driving. Next I'd say it's poor driving habits, NOT including speeding. Following too closely, weaving through traffic, not being in the proper lane, changing lanes without looking and/or signaling.

[smelltheglove]

I've been on more interstate than the average person. Can you point to me a single stretch of interstate were the speed limit is 45? Meh I'll even accept limited access highways with speed limits of 45.

i64/77 through charleston wv (not really artificial there though tbh), i40 through knoxville tn, a stretch of i95 in the vicinity of atlanta (known speed trap), family tells me there are a couple in texas. im sure there are plenty i havent heard of

[Porcell]

i64/77 through charleston wv (not really artificial there though tbh), i40 through knoxville tn, a stretch of i95 in the vicinity of atlanta (known speed trap), family tells me there are a couple in texas. im sure there are plenty i havent heard of

I haven't been able to find anything to verify that. I64/77 in Charleston seems to 60 MPH (link). As for I95 in Atlanta, do you mean I75/85? I95 runs down the coast. Also, no. I75/85 in Atlanta looks like it's 55 MPH (link). This is just like in Detroit where it drops to 55 (link) inside the city limits.

Anyway, sorry for the examples, but I really don't think there's such a thing as 45 MPH on a freeway or limited access highway in the US, and especially not just to have a speed trap.

That's not to say "a highway" can't be that low. A highway is a pretty broad range of roads. Woodward Avenue (link) for example is M-1 and is a Michigan highway. Speed limit ranges from 35 to 45 MPH.

[Edit] Anyone else annoyed that the default link color on this website is hardly distinguishable from normal text?

[Bakis]

I think the problem is that speed itself is rarely the "cause" of an accident. Accidents happen at a variety of speeds and I'd actually put money down that the vast majority of accidents occur at or below the speed limit.

More than anything it is distracted driving. Talking on a cell phone, texting, changing a radio station, talking to someone else in the car. Generally not paying attention to the task at hand: driving. Next I'd say it's poor driving habits, NOT including speeding. Following too closely, weaving through traffic, not being in the proper lane, changing lanes without looking and/or signaling.

Serious accidents ie. (most often) motorways often has to do with speed --> distance to break to a halt, so speed IS dangerous.
Apart fromt that distraction, young (and ancient) drivers etc etc is a problem but speed is a primary factor to serious accidents in every single country.

One can be a attentive driver by all means but if you are going to fast it doesnt matter, you dont have enough space to break or turn in time.