Going a lower speed can limit the total throughput of a freeway, but having a car accident or a series of braking because someone passess makes things alot worse.
Going a lower speed can limit the total throughput of a freeway, but having a car accident or a series of braking because someone passess makes things alot worse.
I live in a small city with a population of just over 50,000 and nearly as many more in nearby suburbs and sprawl. I can say with complete certainty that slow drivers cause significantly more congestion than occasional problems caused by those going too fast. I see traffic messes several times each week caused by someone going slower than the fl
The speed limit is there for a reason - it's a safe speed to drive. If you disagree, don't blame the people following the law. Take it to whatever legislative body sets the numbers.
The speed limit also provides a nice method of synchronization between all the drivers. If everybody goes at the posted speed, there are fewer slower drivers, and the rate can be sustained for longer periods of time because fewer accidents will happen.
Now, if we could only make the silly drivers understand that the fastest w
The speed limit is there for a reason - it's a safe speed to drive. If you disagree, don't blame the people following the law. Take it to whatever legislative body sets the numbers.
I have a friend who is a civil engineer, and he says the best way to set speed limits is to take all the signs down and measure the speed of a thousand cars passing by, then set the speed limit a standard deviation above the median.
Slowpokes cause a great many accidents. The speed at which the majority of people drive is by definition the safest.
Slowpokes cause a great many accidents. The speed at which the majority of people drive is by definition the safest.
By definition? I don't think you know what that phrase means. It might be true that the speed at which most people drive is safest, but that certainly doesn't follow from the meaning of "the speed the majority of people drive" or the definition of "safest."
(Hint: if you need to perform empirical observation to verify a claim, the claim is not "true by definition.")
Greetings and Salutations... I would argue with this, as it makes a number of incorrect assumptions, including the fact that not all people have the same skills or abilities to drive-yet ALL think they are Mario Andretti. Also, they do not often take into account the road conditions. Look at the number of folks that blast through congested construction zones at 60+ MPH, or, drive at the SAME speed on rain/snow slick roads that they drive when the pavement is dry. There is a very good, if somewhat casual, st
There is a very good, if somewhat casual, study out there that says that the BEST way to remove congenstion is to always drive slow enough to keep a goodly sized (several vehicle length) hole ahead of you.
I believe the "study" you remember may be Traffic Waves [amasci.com] by William Beaty. I originally found this site via somebody else's sig a while back. I spent a good half hour digging it up today so others could read it.
I'm no more qualified to understand traffic than you or he is, but I read it extensively wh
we Americans seem to have a total lack of understanding of the basic rules of polite driving and the physics of motion... It's stupid. It's pigheaded... and, perhaps because we ARE still a pretty young society, it's adolescent.
If you think that Americans are the worst offenders in this regard, you need to travel a little bit more. I've driven on the Italian autostrada and believe me, there is no road so scary in this whole country. Driving in Rome itself was even worse.
Point of pedantry; They must not think they're all Mario Andretti since I've observed Mario driving around town, and he is respectful of all traffic laws. I'm sure that he recognizes that the race track with proper equipment and procedures is the only appropriate venue for the go-fast stuff.
Point of pedantry; They must not think they're all Mario Andretti since I've observed Mario driving around town, and he is respectful of all traffic laws. I'm sure that he recognizes that the race track with proper equipment and procedures is the only appropriate venue for the go-fast stuff.
Yeah, but have you seen where he keeps his car? It's the pits.
Really? I've done quite a bit of driving and haven't yet seen an accident cause by driving to slow.
I've seen (and been involved in) ones cause by people panic stoping or just being stoped without a foot on the break where it's not expected.
However I've seen plenty of accidents caused by people in to big a hurry and eigther lane jumping agressively (and hitting someone or causing the person they cut in front of to slam on the breaks to avoid them) or entering the road or intersection without looking.
"Who alone has reason to *lie himself out* of actuality? He who *suffers*
from it."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:3, Interesting)
I live in a small city with a population of just over 50,000 and nearly as many more in nearby suburbs and sprawl. I can say with complete certainty that slow drivers cause significantly more congestion than occasional problems caused by those going too fast. I see traffic messes several times each week caused by someone going slower than the fl
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:3, Informative)
The speed limit also provides a nice method of synchronization between all the drivers. If everybody goes at the posted speed, there are fewer slower drivers, and the rate can be sustained for longer periods of time because fewer accidents will happen.
Now, if we could only make the silly drivers understand that the fastest w
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:3, Interesting)
I have a friend who is a civil engineer, and he says the best way to set speed limits is to take all the signs down and measure the speed of a thousand cars passing by, then set the speed limit a standard deviation above the median.
Slowpokes cause a great many accidents. The speed at which the majority of people drive is by definition the safest.
-ccm
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:1)
By definition? I don't think you know what that phrase means. It might be true that the speed at which most people drive is safest, but that certainly doesn't follow from the meaning of "the speed the majority of people drive" or the definition of "safest."
(Hint: if you need to perform empirical observation to verify a claim, the claim is not "true by definition.")
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
You're correct, of course. I don't know how that crept in. I think I was meaning to say "by default," assuming decent road conditions etc.
-ccm
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:1)
I would argue with this, as it makes a number of incorrect assumptions, including the fact that not all people have the same skills or abilities to drive-yet ALL think they are Mario Andretti. Also, they do not often take into account the road conditions. Look at the number of folks that blast through congested construction zones at 60+ MPH, or, drive at the SAME speed on rain/snow slick roads that they drive when the pavement is dry.
There is a very good, if somewhat casual, st
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:3, Informative)
I believe the "study" you remember may be Traffic Waves [amasci.com] by William Beaty. I originally found this site via somebody else's sig a while back. I spent a good half hour digging it up today so others could read it.
I'm no more qualified to understand traffic than you or he is, but I read it extensively wh
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
However...
we Americans seem to have a total lack of understanding of the basic rules of polite driving and the physics of motion... It's stupid. It's pigheaded... and, perhaps because we ARE still a pretty young society, it's adolescent.
If you think that Americans are the worst offenders in this regard, you need to travel a little bit more. I've driven on the Italian autostrada and believe me, there is no road so scary in this whole country. Driving in Rome itself was even worse.
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
Point of pedantry; They must not think they're all Mario Andretti since I've observed Mario driving around town, and he is respectful of all traffic laws. I'm sure that he recognizes that the race track with proper equipment and procedures is the only appropriate venue for the go-fast stuff.
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
Yeah, but have you seen where he keeps his car? It's the pits.
Re:Doesn't slower speed increase congestion? (Score:2)
I've seen (and been involved in) ones cause by people panic stoping or just being stoped without a foot on the break where it's not expected.
However I've seen plenty of accidents caused by people in to big a hurry and eigther lane jumping agressively (and hitting someone or causing the person they cut in front of to slam on the breaks to avoid them) or entering the road or intersection without looking.