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Re: Repeal of the National Speed Limit Law



In article <3taqfu$4nb@matra.meer.net>, Mark Badger <badger@meer.net> wrote:
...
>  I was kind of shocked when 
> I first got to the US by how little distance people put between
> their car and the one in front of them.

I always get the impression that US drivers approach driving as an
activity that you do without thinking much about it, like walking,
breathing or shitting. Much of this mentality is certainly fostered by the
somnolient 55 MPH speed limit on roads capable of sustained 75+ MPH
speeds.

This feeling gets confirmed on every US holiday, when hordes of US
tourists flock down to Mexico, driving in their usual
autopilot-mind-left-elsewhere mode, and face the "interesting" driving
conditions down here, thereby increasing the Mexican national accident
rate several tens of percentage points. I guess we could call it a
"learning experience"... >:) (Latest instance, the July 4 holiday)

On the other hand, the higher speed limits in Europe tend to weed out the
incompetents (following Darwin's proven laws of natural selection) and
breed generations of safer drivers.

-- 
Juan M. Courcoul                       courcoul@campus.qro.itesm.mx
Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey     courcoul@itesmcq1.qro.itesm.mx
Campus Queretaro


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