speeding> do you?

[Liquid Charlie]

I call it poaching lanes -- ever noticed that most people in canada want to drive in the centre lane -- to coin a phrase -- WTF -- just look in your mirror and you will usually see the centre lane is always the busiest -- just means you have cut off the other 2 lanes -- human nature is a funny thing and the "sheep" syndrome is so true -- just sit back and watch the passengers on your airplane next time you are at the gate -- why does everyone seem to want to follow a leader -- damn if one person looks like they are lining up there will be 100 people behind then in short order.

How to piss off a westjet agent -- don't line up --

[flyinphil]

While the posted maximum may be 100, the accepted maximum seems to me to be where points kick in(117). The discretionary zone is between those speeds where if you are just driving like an a**hole, the cop can fine you.

In my opinion, anything, even if you are IABD, over 130 in a 100 zone deserves a licence suspension and heavy fine. Over 130, a one year suspension and retraining just like the drunks that still insist on driving because at that speed, you are every bit as much a hazard.

You can blame the crappy drivers all you like but if they are driving the speed limit, they are driving within the laws of the land. That does not mean people should drive poorly. The ought to move to the slower lanes and let people pass.

[Hedley]

130 in a 100 zone deserves a licence suspension and heavy fine

No offense, but I guess you don't drive much on divided (eg 400-series) highways much, do you?

I suspect it would be mind-blowing for many here to go out for a ride with the literbikes .... http://www.uponone.com/videos.php?id=9455

130 klicks is 2nd gear.

[AV8OR]

What gets me is those drivers that pass you on the right side just as you are about to move over to the left to let them pass you! Too impatient to wait a couple seconds before I make my move back infront of the guy I was just passing.
And, why is the centre lane the slow lane?

[justplanecrazy]

How short people's memories are ... is anyone here old enough to remember the two guys who drove side by side east on the 401 from Toronto at precisely the posted speed limit 100 kph? They had traffic backed up behind them for miles, and when the boys in blue finally got their hands on them, they were charged with obstructing a highway.

It would appear that the police and the traffic court judges do not think it is either safe or legal to drive the speed limit in the left lane.

There was more to the story than just that. Some boy scout cop pulled one of those guys over fore doing 109kph, with the flow of traffic. He took it to court and lost, so him and his buddy arranged to bring traffic to a stop by driving the exact speed limit. Turns out he lost that case too. I can't remember what the ramifications were on law in the end but I remember he got screwed from both ends and its now a common case study in law class.

Canada really needs to learn how to drive like German's but we have too many farmers and elderly drivers that refuse to stay off the road, to simply adapt Germany's laws. We live in a country where people can spend their whole lives driving on 50kph 2 lane roads. They end up going to Toronto and renting a car for their sisters funeral at 70 years old and suddenly, they're stuck in the left lane at 50kph. In Europe, it doesn't matter where you grew up, you need to know how to drive in congested, fast pase freeways, and if you're too old there's public transit available no matter where you live. Canada has too much variance and unless you develop an urban and rural licence you're always going to get idiots like Rockie who pull out at 100kph right in front of the guy doing 140kph in the left lane in order to pass the 95kph driver in the right. Try that one in Europe. My favorite is the guy that passes on a two lane road but the guy he's passing is doing 98kph so it takes him 5km to pass him in the oncoming traffic lane at 100kph because it's too dangerous to go 120kph and pass him in a few meters.

The best example I have of a Canadian road hazard I've heard, is an elderly guy telling me about all the assholes on HWY 1 at Roger's pass. He said he had to slow to 30kph before the tunnels, so his eyes could adjust. He was so mad that people would honk at him. Here this guy is doing 30kph at the entrance of a dark tunnel with everyone approaching the tunnel at 100kph unable to see him, and he's furious.

[flyinphil]

130 in a 100 zone deserves a licence suspension and heavy fine

No offense, but I guess you don't drive much on divided (eg 400-series) highways much, do you?

I suspect it would be mind-blowing for many here to go out for a ride with the literbikes .... http://www.uponone.com/videos.php?id=9455

130 klicks is 2nd gear.

90% of my driving is on the 400 series highways in the GTA. That is where I formed my opinion. Nice bikes. A good friend of mind blew his mind riding one. Unfortunately his mind was blown all over a 400 series highway. Not from the high speed, but the sudden stop.

On the Autobahn, Everyone here seems to think we just need to change the laws. Sorry but it goes a lot further than that including the construction of the highways. The autobahn has far fewer exits and entrances so far fewer fluctuations in traffic speed and volume. Entrance and exit lanes are much longer and better marked. Drivers there have a completely different mindset and attention is paid to driving, not fixing hair and talking on the phone sipping a latte.

[Hedley]

Nice bikes. A good friend of mind blew his mind riding one.

So, if I know someone that died in a plane crash, that means that no one should fly planes, either? After all, it must be pretty dangerous way up at that extreme height, going hundreds of miles per hour?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_by_example

Come to think of it, every person that I've know that has died, drank water at some point in their life.

I'm not going to drink water any more, so I'm going to live forever.

[flyinphil]

Nice bikes. A good friend of mind blew his mind riding one.

So, if I know someone that died in a plane crash, that means that no one should fly planes, either? After all, it must be pretty dangerous way up at that extreme height, going hundreds of miles per hour?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_by_example

Come to think of it, every person that I've know that has died, drank water at some point in their life.

I'm not going to drink water any more, so I'm going to live forever.

For an "educated" person, you sure come up with stupid arguments..

[Hedley]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm#Sa ... munication

P.S. I don't claim to be particularly well-educated ... I'm just a graduate engineer, Queen's University at Kingston.

http://appsci.queensu.ca/math/undergraduate/program.php

I work with various Phd holders - maybe you might consider them to be "educated"?

[RatherBeFlying]

The faster you are going, the farther ahead you have to be looking and the more you have to be anticipating what others in front of you are up to and making very sure that you have an out for the usual kinds of mistakes drivers make. In a way, driving faster than traffic is easier than driving slower than traffic, because the issues you have to manage are in front of you instead of behind.

There are times somebody does something extraordinarily stupid and totally unexpected and you have to take evasive action which may or may not be successful. For example, a taxi driver stopped on the left shoulder of Hwy 403 who suddenly dumped himself two lanes over at maybe 40 km/h. He did signal and I did move one lane over to accommodate him, but once I saw him crawling over another lane to the right, it was time for me to take the left shoulder to give myself the widest possible berth. He was heading to the right; so, the left was the best place to be. And I wanted to be as far as possible away from him in case he started coming back. In fact he did a bit. I'm sure his passenger was very impressed.

Why he did not use the paved shoulder to accelerate to a reasonable speed, I have no idea.

If we assume that there's all sorts of idiots that are about to attempt suicide in front of us, 30 km/h is the limit. So do we set a speed that will protect us against a hazard that might happen every 20 years or so or do we drive at a speed that leaves us room to accommodate the conditions we see in front of us?

Expressways are pretty simple as pedestrians and things pulling out of driveways and intersections have been removed from the picture. In return your major task is maintaining a safe position while in close formation. [/b]

[mighty mouse]

I drive the center lane, i set the cruise to 110, relax and let the traffic pass me. Its peaceful, i don't have to slam on the brakes, accelerate hard,, i just enjoy the drive with some good tunes. I avoid the right lane because there is to much merging traffic to deal with all the time. I use the left lane when i need to pass.

When the traffic is heavy, and I'm having to slow and speed up when I'm already traveling under 110, I set the cruise to 100.

If the highway is dead, I'll consider using the right lane.

[Widow]

*begin hijack*

P.S. I don't claim to be particularly well-educated ... I'm just a graduate engineer, Queen's University at Kingston.

I remember you Queen's engineers ... you guys nearly ripped me right out of the car when my Dad delivered me for frosh week ...



*end hijack*

[Rockie]

How short people's memories are ... is anyone here old enough to remember the two guys who drove side by side east on the 401 from Toronto at precisely the posted speed limit 100 kph? They had traffic backed up behind them for miles, and when the boys in blue finally got their hands on them, they were charged with obstructing a highway.

It would appear that the police and the traffic court judges do not think it is either safe or legal to drive the speed limit in the left lane.

Canada has too much variance and unless you develop an urban and rural licence you're always going to get idiots like Rockie who pull out at 100kph right in front of the guy doing 140kph in the left lane in order to pass the 95kph driver in the right. Try that one in Europe.

Careful who you call idiot. I have more time driving the Rogers Pass than you do since I grew up and learned how to drive there, and I learned freeway etiquette from 4 years driving on the Autobaun. I'll take no lessons from you thank you.

[FL_CH]

When the traffic is heavy, and I'm having to slow and speed up when I'm already traveling under 110, I set the cruise to 100.

Something tells me that setting cruise in 'heavy traffic' might not such a good idea.

[rsandor]

It's sad to see people getting defensive or offended by one another.

I think it's important to be reasonable. There will be faster people and there will eb slower people. We have to be able to coexist.

The EXTREMES are the ones that are dangerous, and we have to be careful not to group each other into one EXTREME just because they tend to lean in that direction.

[RatherBeFlying]

I drive the center lane, i set the cruise to 110, relax and let the traffic pass me. Its peaceful, i don't have to slam on the brakes, accelerate hard,, i just enjoy the drive with some good tunes. I avoid the right lane because there is to much merging traffic to deal with all the time. I use the left lane when i need to pass.

That's why to make progress, you generally have to switch from the left lane to the right lane and vice versa, i.e. across all the dozers in the middle lane.

It's really wierd to see the left and middle lanes packed when there's next to nobody in the right lane. So guess which lane is the easiest and fastest and most safe to drive in.

The outside lanes offer you an instant escape to the shoulder should things go to hell in front of you. In the middle lane, you may have company on either side and end up with no where to go except into the accident, perhaps with an added push from the guy behind you. I've had a few front seats to developing accidents. Trust me, escape routes are golden.

[Hedley]

I remember you Queen's engineers ... you guys nearly ripped me right out of the car when my Dad delivered me for frosh week ...

Ah, the good old days ...

Proud member of Sci '86

(you can wander into Jeffrey Hall and probably still see our pictures on the wall - those of us that survived to graduation, that is)

[Widow]

I remember you Queen's engineers ... you guys nearly ripped me right out of the car when my Dad delivered me for frosh week ...

Ah, the good old days ...

Proud member of Sci '86

(you can wander into Jeffrey Hall and probably still see our pictures on the wall - those of us that survived to graduation, that is)

Well, I arrived in fall of '85 ... so that WAS you!!! Did we dance at the Toucan?

Hopefully you are not that strange engineer named Weekert with whom I accidently fell into bed!

[v6g]

Hopefully you are not that strange engineer named Weekert with whom I accidently fell into bed!

This thread's suddenly taken a more interesting turn.

[Hedley]

Reminds me of a funny story. Queen's U 'way back when had a printed phone book with all the student's names & phone numbers in it. I'm sure it's online now, but you could use it to look people up and call them.

When I was in 4th year engineering, there happened to be a guy with the same first and last name as me (no relation). Never met the guy, I think he was in 1st year Phys Ed or something like that.

So in 4th year, one evening I get a phone call from a very cute-sounding girl that I didn't know. Nice voice, though. For all I know she weighed a third of a metric tonne, but gosh she sure sounded nice on the phone.

So, she started talking as if she knew me, and asked me how I was doing lately. Fine, I replied.

She asked, did I have a good time last Saturday night?

Sure, I replied, desperately searching my memory, trying to recall exactly where I was, and what I did last Saturday night, and with whom.

She then went on to ask why I didn't call, after I stayed over at her place.

Hold on a sec, I replied. I woulda remembered that!

Then it dawned on me - I asked her if she had the right guy - there was another guy - a first year jock - who had the same name as me.

She just about died of embarrassment, and hung up the phone. Never met her, either. Pity.

Maybe it's just me, but I relish this sort of confusion. I remember doing an airshow in Alabama a few years back, there had to be at least 40 red and white biplanes doing aerobatics. Ripe for confusion

[FamilyGuy]

Back to the topic at hand...

What logic makes anyone think even 100kph is safe for all drivers in all cars? I'm not talking road conditions or even traffic congestion either.

Surely, there must be instances where the magic 100 or 110 kph is not safe or even totally unsafe? This must be true if anyone exceeding 110 is unsafe - correct?

A quick poll -

how many supposedly "safe" 100/110kph drivers do a thorough pre trip check of their car? How often - everytime or only when something starts making noise? Long trips only or even to the corner store?

How many of you "safe" drivers have a clue what your tires are rated for? 110kph continuous at max load max inflation? 120kph with a restricted load? "What's a tire rating?"

How old are your tires? How much tread is left and when is it "unsafe"? When was the last time you checked the pressures and with what? Looks about right? Would you even know what to look for?

When was the last time you checked your brake parts? Do you ever? Do you trust the pimply faced kid at Canadian tire with their O so good $40 check up - or do you take it to a professional $$$?

How about the suspension? Ever check it? Do you know what happens if a tie rod sleeve fails? Do you know what the odds of that happening are?

Do you know your stopping distance from 100kph? Is it the same, more or less than a fully loaded SUV, an 18 wheeler, cement truck or sports car? Do you compensate following distance for load?

Point is as pilots we have lisenced AME's certify our airplanes to rigorous standards to try to make sure the machine will not fail our abilities. We have operating manuals detailing the envelope of our machines. We have training and testing to have us, the human operate that machine at its limits - all safely.

I find it logically retarded, especially for pilots, to even remotely suggest that doing 100/110 is more "SAFE" because that is the law or conversly that exceeding 100/110 is any less safe by mere virtue of the arbitrary speed "number" involved.

A properly trained and disciplined driver operating a properly equipped and maintained car is MUCH safer at ANY speed than 70% of the POS cars and morons on the road today in Canada - regardless of the driving environment/conditions.

We will never have the infrastructure to support an "autobahn" type scenario and frankly we don't really need it. What we need is the German attitude AND the fine German engineering (their cars...sweet sweet cars)

What we need is nationwide graduated licesning program that goes past the learning stage.

We need "super-licenses" - a way to regulate those who think they are "heros of the highway". Rigourous standards and testing. MEL's. Act prudently in a properly equipped and maintained car - fill your boots - speed at your discretion. Exercise poor discretion - just once - and not only do they take away your super license - they impound your obviously expensive car.

We also need checks on the normal folks once any license is issued. I should be able to snap a pic with my cellphone camera of an asshole doing 101 in the left lane holding up the flow of traffic and something should be done about it! All the bloody do-gooders can do that to me if I pass them too quickly - facking liberal tree-hugging cry babies...but I digress.

I drive a reasonably well equipped highway cruising machine - 150 is nothing. It is maintained like an airplane - and I do check everything very routinely. I drive with extreme caution and only as circumstances dictate. Nearing 30 years - no accidents - no tickets - and I use the posted highway "limit" more as a guide.

Tell me why I should always be limited to the pedestrian speed of 100/110 - a speed where even the most dilapitated peice of shit driven by the worst of drivers is deemed safe?

Surely, logic must dictate that I can travel much faster and be every bit as safe.

As pilots, this logic should be self-evident. Think about it.

[767]

if your a pilot, you should be allowed to speed. why? becuase if your scared to speed, then you should be scared to fly.. just my opinion.

[mellow_pilot]

2 identical cars. One (A) traveling 100kph, the other (B) at 140. A deer jumps out on the highway and both use maximum efficient braking.

When car A is stopped, car B will be have used roughly the same distance to get to 100kph. It still has to use the same distance again to come to 0.

So yes, you are all perfectly safe to speed. After all, regardless of how fast you are going, you are capable of looking far enough ahead to avoid obstacles. You are capable of looking ahead of your vehicles to infinity...

F=MA people!!!

But then who cares really, you're all above average and capable of defeating the laws of physics... those laws are like speed limits, just suggestions...

[FamilyGuy]

Mellow I don't know what kind of car you drive, but if it takes the same distance to slow from 140 to 100 as it does from 100 to 0 you might want to have that looked at.

Regardless, WTF does a deer popping out of the ether have to do with it? If you are doing 140 in a deer zone you deserve a crumpled hood - which by the way is not a BIG facking deal! Why do people insist on making roadkill into a "safey anti-speeding issue"? Maybe we watch too many Hollywood movies - the car won't careen uncontrollably and explode into a huge fireball after hitting a deer....now a Moose with TNT strapped to it's belly, well that my freinds is another story. There was this one time I was speeding along..........................

[mellow_pilot]

Mass x velocity squared...

So yeah, the stopping distance is exponentially affected by speed...

And deer are the only thing to worry about, not just one example, the only example. There is nothing else that could possibly go wrong, so if there is no deer sign around, you're good to go... I think I'm gonna have a warpdrive installed on my civic...

100lbs of deer hitting the windshield at 100kph+, not an issue friends, you can walk that crumpled bumper off. You are all capable of safely driving at 200kph. Now go forth and be merry.