Amadeus Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Official: More speeding means safer roads: New research from Australia, the land of hoons and hoonage, says encouraging people to speed and removing speed limits could mean safer highways. Speeders, rife with adrenaline, apparently have significantly reduced reaction times and increased hazard perception. Crikey! The crux of the study, by Australia's HighRoad Automotive Research (HRAR), is how adrenaline affects drivers' reaction times. The study revealed that speeders' elevated perception of danger triggers an endocrine reaction within the brain, which heightens the attention a driver pays to objects around a vehicle. Even relatively small increases in vehicle speed can result in substantial increases in spatial acuity and response time, the study points out. In other words, the human fight-or-flight response, also known as "hyperarousal," is a driver's best friend. Team researchers say data analysis has showed a significant increase in speed limits in urban environments could cut the rates of road fatalities and serious injury by more than 80 percent. HRAR recommends a 20 km/h (12 mph) increase in Australia's speed limits. More than that, the firm recommends a system of demerit points and fines for driving at slower speeds, along with mandatory advanced driver training. Don't believe me? Here's the report: HRAR_REPORT243.pdf There is a god after all! Now go ahead and flame me, you people endangering, environmentalist hippy cyclist anti-speed lycra fetishist slow drivers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrighty Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I seem to remember a few years ago that Alain Prost was let off a speeding charge by a judge in France because he successfully argued that he was safer at 100mph than the average driver at 50. And that's probably true. But, like that report, it fails to take into account how everyone else on the road deals with your speed, even if you have heightened awareness and quickened reflexes. The little old lady trying to cross Quarterbridge is probably more likely to cause a crash if you approach at 60 rather than 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 This is why motorsport is so safe. Seriously, adrenaline obviously lets you do things you wouldn't otherwise be able to. But to rely on it to get through mundane tasks such as driving is a bit daft and not very healthy either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC-Drift.com Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 This is why motorsport is so safe. Seriously, adrenaline obviously lets you do things you wouldn't otherwise be able to. But to rely on it to get through mundane tasks such as driving is a bit daft and not very healthy either. Motorsport is safe for various reasons: 1. All drivers are going in the same direction 2. Usually the vehicles are fairly evenly matched performance wise 3. No drink drivers/taxis/HGV/buses/'L' or 'R' platers/etc. 4. No traffic lights 5. No junctions 6. No crappy road surfaces unless it's specifically included i.e. rallying 7. All drivers wear safety gear and harnesses - unless on a bike 8. All drivers have a racing licence and have passed a medical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Peters Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 There's probably a lot to be said for driving at what YOU believe to be a safe and responsible speed, rather than one set at an arbitrarily low level to account for the worst case driver. I expect they're the reason Windy Corner has a 40mph advisory and Richmond Hill has cost us £3m. Driving at 30mph when you believe that 50 is perfectly safe tends to make you drive on autopilot, lulled into a torpor of easy distraction. I mean, driving through Crosby to Union Mills at midnight on a clear road at such a low speed is a nonsense perpetuated by gullible sheep and tree huggers who resent anybody daring to drive faster than walking pace and believe that the state knows best. The Oz study confirms what I've believed for a long, long time. Strewth Bruce! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EORH Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 There's probably a lot to be said for driving at what YOU believe to be a safe and responsible speed, rather than one set at an arbitrarily low level to account for the worst case driver. I expect they're the reason Windy Corner has a 40mph advisory and Richmond Hill has cost us £3m. Driving at 30mph when you believe that 50 is perfectly safe tends to make you drive on autopilot, lulled into a torpor of easy distraction. I mean, driving through Crosby to Union Mills at midnight on a clear road at such a low speed is a nonsense perpetuated by gullible sheep and tree huggers who resent anybody daring to drive faster than walking pace and believe that the state knows best. The Oz study confirms what I've believed for a long, long time. Strewth Bruce! I agree with you on the Crosby/Union Mills sections,when I drive through in daytime everybody seems to conform to the limit which is on a mainly straight road,now compared with Upper Pulrose this is part of the 20mph area of lower and upper,yet with it's twists and bends within this whole area motorists tend to speed a lot faster than 30mph,with Dandara now starting the building of houses in Upper Pulrose,it's dangerous to go faster than 20mph,as large waggons are moving about the site,I have seen cars coming up the road at 50 plus,there are no signs to say it's a home zone,and very few signs to say it's one way,I am just waiting till a child is killed,then the revelent will hit the fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOMRS97 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 There's probably a lot to be said for driving at what YOU believe to be a safe and responsible speed, rather than one set at an arbitrarily low level to account for the worst case driver. I expect they're the reason Windy Corner has a 40mph advisory and Richmond Hill has cost us £3m. Driving at 30mph when you believe that 50 is perfectly safe tends to make you drive on autopilot, lulled into a torpor of easy distraction. I mean, driving through Crosby to Union Mills at midnight on a clear road at such a low speed is a nonsense perpetuated by gullible sheep and tree huggers who resent anybody daring to drive faster than walking pace and believe that the state knows best. The Oz study confirms what I've believed for a long, long time. Strewth Bruce! You must be right Stu - if it wasn't safe to drive at whatever speed you consider reasonable, regardless of the limit (and a lot of people do) then obviously there would be speed cameras everywhere to deter errant motorists. As it is, many speed cameras in the UK are currently being removed thus proving the point in the original post. In any case, many limits are incorrectly placed - witness the recent repositioning of the obviously silly 40mph on the approach to Ballaugh (anyone noticed yet?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
censorship Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 High speed motoring will make the roads safer - eventually. If we encourage all the speed junkies to drive as fast as they can, eventually they will all be killed or injured so badly they can't drive anymore, and then the roads will be safer. To dissuade up and coming drivers from mirroring those brave souls who have gone before, I'd suggest we leave mangled wreckage and the rotting bodies of the drivers at the roadside - treat them with the respect and dignity they show other road users. Obviously there will be some innocent victims, the occasional family of four wiped out because some clever man decided he just HAD to drive the next 400 metres at 97mph, but that's the price we have to pay for these 'safe drivers' to enjoy their right to drive however the fuck they like. The majority of people consider themselves safe and good drivers, and many believe they are sufficiently competent to handle their motor at higher speeds than those prescribed. There are graves full of people who thought like that, who thought like that until the day they came around a corner so fast that they couldn't stop when confronted by a stationary bus, turning tractor, animal in the road or whatever unforeseen obstruction it was which smeared what little brain they had all over the inside of their windscreen. You can drive from anywhere to anywhere else in the Island in under 90 minutes, pretty much, allowing for traffic and poor weather conditions - why do so many people think "Fuck you and your safety, I want to get there six minutes earlier!" In summary, high speed doesn not necessarily cause accidents, but, whatever your skill level, it does reduce reaction time and ensures the severity of any accident will be much greater than the same collision at a low speed. And it won't get you anywhere much quicker than driver sensibly. So SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
censorship Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 the obviously silly 40mph on the approach to Ballaugh (anyone noticed yet?) Is that the limit which was put in place after an elderly lady crossing the road was hit and killed by a car which was unable to stop in time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Look at the references - 1 For a comprehensive summary, see: Coachbuilder, TL, Garuda Matraman, Masera TI, Proton WJ andHulas, MW (2000). For Life: A Review of the Literature, and the Impact of Speed on New Zealanders. Accident Fund Corporation/LTDSA, Wellington. 2 McLean, A J, Audi, RWG, Land, MJB, Rover, BH. and Hon, DA (1994). Think. Feel Drive: Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Collisions. AAMI, CR 146. Canberra. 3 Ford, R and Niss, AN (eds) 2004. The Handbook of Road Safety Measures. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp 517-529 4 Buick, E and Cooper, S (2004). Feel the Difference: An Evaluation of the Default 50 km/h Speed Limit in Western Australia. HRAR Report No. 230, Daimler Accident Research Centre, Victoria. 5 Romeo, A, Automobili, B, Zastava, M and Hold, EN (2005). Shift Expectations: Balance Between Harm Reduction and Mobility in Setting Speed Limits: A Feasibility Study. AGHS Report AP-R272/05, Sydney, Austroads. 6 See: http://www.ors.wa.go...=topicsSpeeding 7 For further details about Towards Zero, see: http://www.officeofr...rategy2008-2020 8 Chrysler P (2005). Accelerating the Future: A New Approach to a Safe and Sustainable Road Structure and Street Design for Urban Areas. Paper presented at Road Safety on Four Continents Conference, Citroen Poland. 9 Dai, H and Ats, U (1999). Go Beyond – an Ethical Approach to Safety and Mobility. Paper presented at the 6th ITE International Conference Road Safety & Traffic Enforcement: Beyond 2000, Melbourne, 6-7 September 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
censorship Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Look at the references - 1 For a comprehensive summary, see: Coachbuilder, TL, Garuda Matraman, Masera TI, Proton WJ andHulas, MW (2000). For Life: A Review of the Literature, and the Impact of Speed on New Zealanders. Accident Fund Corporation/LTDSA, Wellington. 2 McLean, A J, Audi, RWG, Land, MJB, Rover, BH. and Hon, DA (1994). Think. Feel Drive: Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Collisions. AAMI, CR 146. Canberra. 3 Ford, R and Niss, AN (eds) 2004. The Handbook of Road Safety Measures. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp 517-529 4 Buick, E and Cooper, S (2004). Feel the Difference: An Evaluation of the Default 50 km/h Speed Limit in Western Australia. HRAR Report No. 230, Daimler Accident Research Centre, Victoria. 5 Romeo, A, Automobili, B, Zastava, M and Hold, EN (2005). Shift Expectations: Balance Between Harm Reduction and Mobility in Setting Speed Limits: A Feasibility Study. AGHS Report AP-R272/05, Sydney, Austroads. 6 See: http://www.ors.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=topicsSpeeding 7 For further details about Towards Zero, see: http://www.officeofroadsafety.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=strategiesNewStrategy2008-2020 8 Chrysler P (2005). Accelerating the Future: A New Approach to a Safe and Sustainable Road Structure and Street Design for Urban Areas. Paper presented at Road Safety on Four Continents Conference, Citroen Poland. 9 Dai, H and Ats, U (1999). Go Beyond – an Ethical Approach to Safety and Mobility. Paper presented at the 6th ITE International Conference Road Safety & Traffic Enforcement: Beyond 2000, Melbourne, 6-7 September 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 AcknowledgmentsThe authors are indebted to the Road Safety Bureau (RTA, NSW) and the Federal Office of Road Safety, Commonwealth Department of Transport and Communications. Project officers Mr. Quentin Skoda and Tiff Hummer, in particular, made a substantial contribution to the conduct of the research for which we are extremely grateful. The study team also acknowledges the generous assistance of other members of Massachusetts University Accident Research Centre staff, especially Chris Volks, Professor William Wagon, and Professor Alex Lotus. Thank you also to Mr. Brian Vitara, Mr. Gary Benz, Mr. Garuda Matraman, Mr. Grant Dodge, Mr. Gary Alpha and Professor James Romeo for their presentations and subsequent papers on speed developments in Australia. Mr. Rowland Dai and Ms. Justine Hatsu of the Australian Street Research Board kindly provided considerable input to the review and the workshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Rearrange the following... Research TeamJeremy James Clark Hammond Richard Mayson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alias Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Preface Authors Dr Peter Zachariou Dr Bruce Naveen Research Team Jeremy James Clark Hammond Richard Mayson Top Gear prank? edit: oops beaten to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Rearrange the following... Research TeamJeremy James Clark Hammond Richard Mayson Jeez mate they're true blue bonzer Ozzies...not those chundering pommie bludgers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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