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Germany is not the USA. You can't absolutely NOT compare those two countries. The only common aspect is that "humans are driving cars in both of those countries." Also, germans are accustomed since their driver licence, to highspeed Autobahn and observe the potential dangers on them. They are teached from childhood by their seniors to monitor and recognize dangers, sometimes, families have one of the children beeing the blind spot watcher during trips. And there is a general discipline in the whole population that allows this to happen.
But, as rightly underlined by another forum member above. A huge discussion about introduction of national speed limit is ongoing. It was raging because of the climatic change debate, and will continue to rage. One point that was often mentionned was the fact that the "bullet cars" on the Autobahn are an incredible stress factor for "normal drivers" going very normal 100 miles per hour. And not a few would be in favor of a 130 km/h limitation. Debate is ongoing now.
Now, back in the USA. High speed has nothing to do with the ability or not of the driver, you could actually be a retard and drive a car. When driving 191 miles per hour, you will encounter other cars that will NOT calculate that an absolute trash person is actually overspeeding to this extent. This is calling for an accident to happen. Add to that, like it was actually underlined that the "american way of driving" isn't that disciplined or kind hearted", and that all sorts of crazies can occur on a public road and highway. You have absolutely NO possibility of any kind to react in an emergency situation. There is not only the physics of masses, but the limitations of bodies and perception that are coming to play.
One point that was often mentionned was the fact that the "bullet cars" on the Autobahn are an incredible stress factor for "normal drivers" going very normal 100 miles per hour. And not a few would be in favor of a 130 km/h limitation. Debate is ongoing now.
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Ha This is the average speed in Toronto and ON, the province had to institute a $10,000 fine, curbside vehicle seizure and 7 day license ban to stop those from going 150km/h North American highways can't handle high high speeds and the drivers are certainly not trained for it.
if you just keep saying more speed equals more kinetic energy, we should all just drive 20
Not necessarily. It is not a linear ratio, but a parabola-curve. No, we all can't be expected to drive 20 MPH...that's unrealistic, even for Grandma LOL. But the amount of kinetic energy in a moving vehicle (and the potential for image-force/damage) increases at roughly twice the increase of the speed. Therefore, 40 MPH means four times the amount of impact-energy as at 20, 80 MPH means four times the amount as at 40, and 160 (a not-unusual Autobahn speed for some exotic or high-performance vehicles) means four times the amount as at 80. That's why some of the accidents that do occur on the Autobahn are so horrific. So, one has to use some common sense and judgement in setting and enforcing speed limits on public roads...and that's the job of road / highway engineers and law enforcement.
Not necessarily. It is not a linear ratio, but a parabola-curve. No, we all can't be expected to drive 20 MPH...that's unrealistic, even for Grandma LOL. But the amount of kinetic energy in a moving vehicle (and the potential for image-force/damage) increases at roughly twice the increase of the speed. Therefore, 40 MPH means four times the amount of impact-energy as at 20, 80 MPH means four times the amount as at 40, and 160 (a not-unusual Autobahn speed for some exotic or high-performance vehicles) means four times the amount as at 80. That's why some of the accidents that do occur on the Autobahn are so horrific. So, one has to use some common sense and judgement in setting and enforcing speed limits on public roads...and that's the job of road / highway engineers and law enforcement.
i'm well aware that kinetic energy increases at a logarithmic rate, but just continuing to say physics are undeniable does nothing to address the inadequacies of our drivers and road tests, it also happens to perfectly explain why if more cars were moving more quickly safety would be improved
this is meant to be a thread celebrating speed and human achievement... what happened to your earlier post about you moving on lol... you don't seem to speak from any personal experience on this matter so until then we won't be able to progress on the discussion
what happened to your earlier post about you moving on lol...
With all due respect, I was willing to move on, but you and some others weren't.
you don't seem to speak from any personal experience on this matter so until then we won't be able to progress on the discussion
Again, wth all due respect, I'm speaking from plenty of experience. For many decades, I kept myself alive and with a good (although not perfect) driving record by abiding by exactly what I've said.
this is meant to be a thread celebrating speed and human achievement
It's a thread that celebrates human stupidity. There is a pace for this kind of driving....it's called a race track, not a public road.
Again, wth all due respect, I'm speaking from plenty of experience. For many decades, I kept myself alive and with a good (although not perfect) driving record by abiding by exactly what I've said.
i'm talking about personal experience driving at autobahn type speeds
and i'd be more than happy to go to a race track, if you could direct me to one nearby where i'd be able to go up to 150+ for a few sustained minutes and then casually coast down to normalcy, i promise i'd have no reason to break the speed limit
btw i have been on pocono raceway, it's cool and all but the main straight is only 0.7 miles so basically right as the fun starts you need to brake hard into the first corner, and while the E55 has the hardware (8 piston front calipers) to do that it would really rather just have the cruise control set as you go from munich to stuttgart mach schnell!
I agree that 100mph + speeds in America should be reserved for race tracks unless we re-engineer our highways to be safe at high speeds. Race tracks have few things to run into such as rocks, wildlife, trees, ditches and such, and where there are walls/obstacles, they protect potential crash victims with safer-barriers. Even so, race tracks require a great deal of safety equipment, restraints, training, all of which cost greatly (you got to pay to play). While driving fast on a highway not designed for speed, one may pay with their life and the lives of anyone else associated with one's high speed wreck.
What matters in an accident is not what the official limit was, but how fast, and under what road-conditions, the vehicle was actually going when he or she lost control. The laws of physics don't care what the state posts on signs......they operate on vehicle-kinetic-energy and accident-impacts.
What matters in an accident is not what the official limit was, but how fast, and under what road-conditions, the vehicle was actually going when he or she lost control. The laws of physics don't care what the state posts on signs......they operate on vehicle-kinetic-energy and accident-impacts.
so considering some people are just menaces who will speed anyway, the safest thing to do is make the rest of traffic go faster to minimize the difference in speed and increase driver alertness
so considering some people are just menaces who will speed anyway, the safest thing to do is make the rest of traffic go faster to minimize the difference in speed and increase driver alertness
More menaces isn't going to help, and could make it even worse.
Anyhow, back to the thread-topic.....the Cannonball runs. Even the speed-junkies at the enthusiast mags are now starting to see the clear dangers of it.
More menaces isn't going to help, and could make it even worse.
Anyhow, back to the thread-topic.....the Cannonball runs. Even the speed-junkies at the enthusiast mags are now starting to see the clear dangers of it.
it's always been and been seen as a dangerous activity, i just think the timing with the pandemic and all made people in less lighthearted mood about it
doing a cannonball run now isn't really 'in the spirit' of cannonball runs considering these are circumstances which really can't be replicated
04-18-20, 04:11 AM
