Revenue or Safety?

henzilla said:

BTW...regular 87 octane gas was $ 4.87 in Needles,CA...I pressed on with a half tank of non-ethanol AZ gas I paid $ 3.64 for 89 octane for less than 100 miles before I hit CA. It got a little cheaper as I got near the coastline.

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henzilla said:

I crossed into CA on I-40 yesterday after a meandering non Interstate trip from TX. I saw only three LEO vehicles in the previous 1400 miles and three states. On that stretch of I-40 within 75 miles I came across 6 Troopers either in the process of a stop or hiding in the brush. I was keeping pace with the CA plated vehicles...71MPH! No one was pushing the 70MPH posted. The desert temp was between 89-91.

Then, after exiting onto I-15 south of Barstow it was a racetrack at average speeds of 85 to keep from getting overrun headed towards LA. Never saw a single LEO until way down the way on the 605.

I guess my question/comment is why is the desert so protected with minimal traffic density per mile as opposed to the three/four lane wide heavy vehicle per mile run on I-15?
With high gas prices these cars are idling with A/C on for hours in 90 degree heat...maybe they have to pay for their gas tab

BTW...regular 87 octane gas was $ 4.87 in Needles,CA...I pressed on with a half tank of non-ethanol AZ gas I paid $ 3.64 for 89 octane for less than 100 miles before I hit CA. It got a little cheaper as I got near the coastline.

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GlobalRider said:

I came across road safety/fatalities/injuries data and trends for for various countries around the world.

IRTAD Annual Report 2010

Some interesting stats between the US (lower speed limits) versus Germany (much higher speed limits). Note: the US has about 4 times the population.

US fatalities: 33,808 of which 4675 were in motorways (US Interstates with low speed limits)
Germany fatalities: 4152 of which 475 were on motorways (Autobahns with high speed limits)

US injuries/crashes: 1,517,000
Germany injuries/craches: 310,806

10,591 were killed in the US due to speeding.

Data from 2008 or 2009.

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rocketman said:

Unfortunately the numbers taken by themselves does not really tell us much since other factors such total vehicles owned and operated, total number of miles traveled, average distance per trip, road type...

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GlobalRider said:

A motorway is a 2 or more lane (per direction) road with no intersections as I understand it...the M25 for example around London.

Once out of urban areas, we have far less traffic density than they have.

The chances of surviving an accident diminish exponentially with speed.

They do list some of the things you mentioned.

In a nutshell, we have pathetic drivers.

Yes, I know about those "signless" towns. What a concept...drivers actually having to think and make judgment calls.

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Mika said:

Again, all very interesting observations and discussion; however, they seem to have the precision and importance worthy of a deft Monday quarterback replaying Sunday's game.

A more important an interesting aspect to discuss is what is our responsibility, if any, as citizens?

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rocketman said:

Unfortunately the numbers taken by themselves does not really tell us much since other factors such total vehicles owned and operated, total number of miles traveled, average distance per trip, road type, (i.e. highway vs, 2 lane) congestion, etc. all play a part and have to be accounted for in the comparison, as the report states quite clearly on page 11 and even discusses some of the most often used comparisons. It is an interesting read, esp. in the area of motorcycle fatalities. Also has some interesting observations about the differences in developing countries vs. already developed one, which is really no surprise for anyone who has lived overseas for any period of time. Esp. if one drove any vehicle during that time. In fact, that experience is part of why I think its not such a great idea to reduce traffic safety rules or enforcement, it can easily lead to mayhem, I know, been there, done that! And I'd be willing to bet any number of folks on this board are familiar with third would driving and I can't imagine many would want that chaos here!

On the other hand, some European cities are trying a different approach as detailed in this magazine article

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448747,00.html

Should be an interesting study, while I can see it working in some situations, its effectiveness depends on several factors such as road type and even road surface (as I note that some towns are putting in cobblestone streets, which in and of themselves would slow traffic down!). Many of these changes that might not apply well in larger urban areas esp. with high congestion, but it should be interesting to see how it evolves.

RM

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