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Re: Solve speeding by limiting cars!




In article <48b182$eg5@shark.sb.grci.com>, rnakroshis@grci.com said:
>Years ago, as an EMT in a rural Virgina town, I was called to a accident 
>with a rolled-over pickup truck.  On this perfectly straight road, speed 
>had to have been a contributing factor.  I'll never forget the look of 
>horror frozen on that partially-ejected teenager's face.  

As tragic as that teenager's death was, you have no basis for assuming that
speed had to be a contributing factor. This was an inexperienced driver
operating a vehicle with a high potential for rollover. The accident might
very well have been caused by the driver overcorrecting for an error, such
as allowing a wheel to drift onto the shoulder.

Driving too fast for conditions _might_ have caused the accident. It might 
not. You don't know, and neither do I. Even it was the proximate cause, 
we don't know how fast that truck was going. Perhaps the teenager was very
stupid and was operating at 50mph over. This does not mean that operating
at 10mph over would also have resulted in an accident. Operating over the
posted limit may be illegal, but it is not always dangerous. What matters is
whether one is driving too fast for conditions, which is a different thing.

Michael Johnson                                     http://mordor.relay.com/
Relay Technology, Inc.
The opinions above are my own and not necessarily shared by Relay Technology



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