Re: SMART cars coming to the US

The Reid <dontuse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Following up to chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
> prestwich tesco 24h offy
>
> >> Just saying cars are lethal weapons implies we should drive
> >> everywhere at 15mph.
> >
> >No, I''m only saying you should drive at the speed limit.
>
> >No, it's a matter of law. If you don't like it, try to change it, but
> >ignoring it is foolhardy.
>
> All your saying is "its the law" rather than why 70 is a magic
> number.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm saying that when you drive a
car, you have a certain responsibility to obey the driving laws.
Deciding which laws apply to you, and when, doesn't make sense. Why not
drive while slightly over the limit as well? After all, most people
don't crash their car when a little drunk.

> There's nothing foolhardy about driving at 85 on a
> motorway

Oh yes there is, and it's environmentally less sound and noisier. Why
not drive at 100? 120? What's the limit you'd impose. You're very
trusting of a driver's ability to know what speed they can safely drive
at. Well, I don't share your sense of trust, and the more I learn of
drivers, and the odd personality change which overtakes them behind a
wheel, the less trusting I am.

> , it just illegal, in Germany it would probably be legal.

So, as I said, campaign for a change in the law. You don't get to choose
which laws you break or not when you drive a car.

[]
> >> Fot the last how ever many years the motorway limit has been
> >> ignored and I see no anarchy, they are our safest roads, its not
> >> broken, don't fix it.
> >
> >I see plenty of people ignoring various driving laws.
>
> Sure, this has increased vastly since they cut right back on
> policing, now a minority of people are starting to do just as
> they like, except for breaking arbitrary speed limits
>
> >> >Speed is relative. I used to drive in parts of the US which had 55 mile
> >> >limits, often strictly enforced.
> >>
> >> and where more people are killed on the roads.
> >
> >Maybe they're _even_ worse drivers than in the UK?
>
> That's what causes accidents, poor driving and inappropriate
> speed, not speed.

No, speed does cause accidents as well.

> As you point out, Americans drive very slowly
> but still have more fatal accidents, we drive fast and have less.

We have enough. I wouldn't look to other countries to feel better about
the death rates in the UK.

> They have minimal driver training, that's where the correlation
> is, not with speed. When the weather is bad, I'm the slowest car
> on the motorway, all the Mr Speedlimits come past me, train them
> to drive to circumstance, not limits, and you would make
> progress.
> UK driving manners are going downhill, but you cant really say UK
> drivers are bad,

Oh yes I can.

> they have reasonable consideration for
> pedestrians and cyclists

As a non-driver, this is not at all my impression.

> and our roads are amongst the safest in
> the world.
>
> >> As for the argument "its the law" so just obey it, I'm sure you
> >> can think of laws that have not been obeyed by parts of the
> >> community in the past!
> >
> >Of course, but I happily draw the line when it comes to roads. If it was
> >only you driving on the road, then you might have a point.
>
> Well, you see cars as the great evil, I don't. Stopping people
> doing 85 on a quiet motorway isn't about safety.

It's about obeying the law while driving.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org
.

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