"Ashton Crusher" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 21 May 2005 16:41:10 GMT, "Anthony Giorgianni"
> > wrote:
>
> >
> >"Ashton Crusher" > wrote in message
> .. .
>
> If you somehow prevent people from ever driving fast, then you will
> have a self-fulfilling prophecy, i.e., no one will be able to drive
> fast safely because no one ever gets to drive fast and learn how.
> Drivers don't hatch from an egg with a fully developed skill set, they
> have to practice and learn.

Though I don't propose preventing people from fast, I find this statement
preposterous. In any case, I hope they do their "learning' and skill set
development around you and not me.
>
>
> > There should be a minimum requirement for getting a license, and the
speed
> >limit and all the driving rules should be set so those
minimally-qualified
> >people can drive safely without posing a danger to everyone else. It may
be
> >inconvenient for some, but so are accidents, injuries and deaths. I don't
> >know where a lot of folks here drive, but where I drive (Connecticut and
> >Long Island) I see lots of people barely making it the way things are
now. I
> >bet raising the speed limit on LI's Southern State Parkway from 55 to 85
> >would have catastrophic consequences.
>
> And I bet it would not. We've seen your kind of predictions made over
> and over and over again by the anti-speed crowd and you know what? In
> virtually every study there is no change in accidents when the speed
> limits are raised to match the 85th percentile instead of some stupid
> and arbitrary lower "safe" speed.

I said 85 mph, just as an example of how a high speed, no matter how
unreasonable, will encourage some poeple to drive that fast. I do not
challenge the 85th percentile necessarily, though I think it may be too fast
in some instances and places - around schools, for example, in construction
areas.

>
>
> From what I see, I think most drivers
> >are terrible drivers.
>
> Well pardon me for my next statement, but my experience has been that
> most people who think "most other drivers" are terrible are usually
> terrible drivers themselves.

You've REALLY had that experience? When?

I don't think most drivers are terrible,
> I think only a small minority of drivers are terrible, a slightly
> larger minority are rude and thoughtless, and the vast majority are
> perfectly capable drivers who are not enthusiasts in anyway, they just
> want to get from point A to point B without a lot of fuss and if you
> don't bother them , they don't bother you.

I think you are right in the larger sense. But I measure people by the very
high standard that I set for myself. I see drivers cutting in and out all
the time; driving with far less than a three-second gap between them and the
vehicle in front, constantly relying on their brakes to avoid plowing into
someone; talking on cell phones and eating. I see too many people driving
what I would consider way too fast on ice and snow, much faster than me in
my four-wheel-drive Explorer who even consider. (And they are not only SUVS)

I see tons of cars and trucks driving with snow and ice piled high on their
roofs, tons of little potholes cut though the windshield snow because the
driver was too lazy to scrap anything and nothing scraped off the back
windshield. I always see drivers speeding around curves until the g-forces
reach a point that they have to apply the brakes. They do this on dry roads
and wet roads. I see acts of road rage all the time, drivers honking
angrily, giving each other the finger. There's probably not a single hour
that goes by that someone doesn't tear down the 35 mph two-lane road on
which I live at 60 or even more, especially motorcycles. I see drivers
runnign without their crusie control CONSTANTLY changing speed - below the
limit, at the limit, above the limit - so know one around them figure out
wheter to pass them or get behind them .I see drivers going so slowly on
highways that you risk running into to them or getting rear ended. I see
drivers who are in such a rush to get to whereever they're going, they
practically drive everyone else off the road. I hear so many people say they
beleived that fact that they were late for an apoointment entitled them to
drive extra fast. Most people I drive with just go through a green light
wihtout assuming someone in the intersection is not going to stop. (I go
though every green light with extreme caution) And this is not to mention
all the drunk drivers. Even if you assume that everyone who drives impaired
is caught, it is WAY too many.

Now in most cases, I agree that this is just part of these drivers' efforts
to get to point b and that they aren't out to bother anyone. But driving is
big responsibility. It should be done with precision and care. So I guess
people aren't terrible drivers in one sense, but in another they are.



>
Your probably all for gun registration and/or control
> and/or confiscation too I bet.

I'm opposed to gun ownership in any way.

In any event, there were a couple of
> states that for years and years had NO SPEED LIMIT outside of cities
> and towns. People got along just fine in those states, driving at safe
> and comfortable speeds. Due to the heavy hand of the federal gvt,
> those states were forced to impose speed limits of lose highway
> dollars. But no one was made safer as a result.

So you are no for adopting the 85th percentile limit or no limit?>

--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni

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