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Re: Why it's set at 55 m.p.h...



In article <3m4dnv$3br@post.gsfc.nasa.gov>,
Dirk Broer <oaddab@abacus.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>In article <3lq2ph$hnk@clarknet.clark.net>, thonhazz@clark.net (Jonathan Hazzard) says:
>Interestingly enough Germanies roads (even with unlimited speed limits on
>some) are among the safest in the world - and pre reunification they
>where the safest?  
>
>Hmmm   - The fastest and the safest?  (also among the best maintained)
>How does that fit into your model of "55 saves <fill_in_blank>"?

Don't get me wrong...I think 55 should go the way of the do-do, but
pointing to Germany as an example is still an oversimplification, like
gun ban advocates pointing at Canada or UK, or unlimited RKBA advocates
pointing at Switzerland.  The German example shows that unlimited roads
_can_ work, but it does not follow that they'll work here.

I've only experiences the souther half of Germany, but at least there,
the autobahns are unlimited only between interchanges which are some
distance apart, much like in the midwestern US.  In the vicinity of an
interchange, the limit drops down to 80 or 100 km/h.  This is analogous
to the current rural requirement for exercising Congress' 65mph
exception.  This system works in spite of the fact that many of the
highways aren't nearly as well paved or lighted as a typical US
interstate (excepting those in the northeastern US, which are shit).

More importantly, though, is the conscientiousness of German drivers, and
the strict rule enforcement.  Mandatory lane discipline: no passing on the
right.  Mandatory turn signals for lane changes.  Tighter speed enforcement,
(sometimes by polizei in Porsches :-), which isn't really objectionable as
the limits are more sensibly set.  German drivers are a huge factor in why
the Germans can have autobahns...virtually all of the assholes (read: lane
hogs) I saw on the road were from other EC countries, or from former East
Germany or Czechoslovakia.

-dave

-- 
Dave Hsu    <hsu@glue.umd.edu>

"The only way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence."
                                - UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali


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