[geeks] Stuff fo' sale

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at verizon.net>
" 
" 
" Many highways were designed for traffic to run at certain speeds which
" are higher than the federally mandated (until very recently) 55 MPH
" maximum. In California a schoolbus shot over the edge of an off ramp
" becuase the speed limit was inconsistent with the design of the
" off-ramp - I don't think those parents were pleased their children
" were used to point that out...

i'm jumping into this very late, but i can't let this go by without my
$.02.

i read of a study done in the chicago area iirc, in the early '70s.
they used a section of recently completed but no opened interstate -
15 mi or so - and gave their drivers a variety of vehicles from a low
sportscar to a full size van, with speedometers disconnected.

they expected to get good data confirming those highway design rules.
they didn't.  what they got was a clear correlation of driver speed to
driver -elevation- -- iow, the van, the least safe vehicle, was the
speed demon, with every driver.

now fast fwd to suvs...  and a school bus driver sits pretty high...

and as for folks driving 'safe and reasonable' speeds on roads they're
familiar with, an anecdote: i commute on secondary roads whenever
possible.  i stick to the limits, and i frequently find drivers
hammering my bumper until they get near their home.  then suddenly
-in-their-neighborhood- they switch to safe and reasonable.  nothing
else is different about the road.

another anecdote: some years ago a local boston tv magazine show did a
special focussed on driving, traffic safety, enforcement, etc.  of the
2 or 3 things i recall from it, one was a man arguing that town and
residential speed limits were unreasonably low, and folks should be
allowed to go what they felt was 'safe and reasonable'.  he was
standing next to his narrow, tall land rover.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought