Too much speed can kill you?

H

haminka1

Registered User
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I take the N3 between Dublin and Navan everyday and the number of people driving constant 70 or 80 with no regard to the actual legal speed limits simply astonishes me.
This morning a new record - 60 km/h by a Nissan Primera /i.e. no truck/ in a 100 km/h zone.
Now, there is so much talk about excessive speeding - but don't these people realize that driving too slowly can also cause dangerous situations? First of all, you are blocking the whole traffic. Second, you are encouraging overtaking. Third - if you cannot drive, if you get scared by the lights from a car driving in the opposite directions and feel the need to brake instantly, if you are afraid of driving faster than 70 km/h because you don't think you can react fast enough - please please please, take a bus!!!! The government and the Green Party are encouraging it anyway so go ahead, get the ticket and sell the poor car.
 
you mean the complainer drives 60 as well :D

disclaimer : i don't drive OVER the speed limit, keep the safe minimum distance /now a question - what is the safe minimum distance between you and the car in front of you?/, don't overtake when not safe etc ....
 
100kmph is a limit - not a target. The person in the primera was perfectly entitled to drive at whatever speedhe/she felt comfotable. They are required to make reasonable provision to allow other traffic pass (not, however, by entering the hard shoulder) but if you still can't pass, that's just too bad.

It's the responsibility of the the NRA and the various councils to provide roads that offer reasonable passing opportunity relative to the route and the volume of traffic. However, we're all aware that this doesn't occur. It's not the fault of the primera driver though.

If you're not aware of the safe distance that should be maintained between moving cars, perhaps it's not the primera driver that should consider the bus.
 
Staples said:
If you're not aware of the safe distance that should be maintained between moving cars, perhaps it's not the primera driver that should consider the bus.
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staples, driving too slowly is considered a hindrance to traffic as well, i.e. if somebody is driving 60 in an area where the limit is 100 and there are no other circumstances which would excuse the slow driving /black ice, heavy rain, snow, sleet, fog etc/, then well - they are not supposed to be on the street ...
i am pretty much aware of the safe minimum distance, that was actually a question for the audience ...
 
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Staples said:
100kmph is a limit - not a target. The person in the primera was perfectly entitled to drive at whatever speedhe/she felt comfotable. They are required to make reasonable provision to allow other traffic pass (not, however, by entering the hard shoulder) but if you still can't pass, that's just too bad.

It's the responsibility of the the NRA and the various councils to provide roads that offer reasonable passing opportunity relative to the route and the volume of traffic. However, we're all aware that this doesn't occur. It's not the fault of the primera driver though.

If you're not aware of the safe distance that should be maintained between moving cars, perhaps it's not the primera driver that should consider the bus.
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From the Rules of the Road :

In normal road and traffic conditions, keep up with the pace of the traffic flow while obeying the speed limit. While you must keep a safe distance away from the vehicle in front, you should not drive so slowly that your vehicle unnecessarily blocks other road users. If you drive too slowly, you risk frustrating other drivers, which could lead to dangerous overtaking
 
staples, believe me, 60 kmph in a 100 kmph definitely is excessively slow ... it is almost half the limit ... the driver caused a very long queue of cars and some dangerous overtaking maneuvers in the dark - it is the responsibility of the driver to be prepared to drive on the road where particular speed limits apply and be able to allow others to drive safely and fluently which clearly did not happen ....
 
haminka1 said:
i know it was ironic but judging from the distance between the cars you see on our motorways some people actually think so - if you told them the half-tachometer rule they'd be surprised :D
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It wasn't ironic. You're supposed to maintain a gap between the car in front that takes at least two seconds to make up. There were TV ads illustrating this some time ago.

I thought you were aware of the minimum safe distance.
 
staples, actually it depends on the speed - on a motorway it should be half tachometer /this could but not always gives the same results as the two seconds/ ...
that means, you are driving 80 km/h, the minimum safe distance is 40 meters, 120 km/h give 60 m distance - providing the weather and road conditions are normal ... fog, frost, snow, rain - bigger distance ...
that's at least what the driving instructors or police e.g. in germany would always stress and teach ...
personally i find the half-tachometer rule better to judge and keep than 2 seconds distance
 
if i'm pulling a horsebox on a 100 or even 120 km stretch of road, i'm still resticted to a maximum speed limit of 80km. would drive slower than that normally, depending on the load up and the condition of the road also. only ever really do 80 on a motorway. too bad for the traffic behind, but c'est la vie.

i'm not allowed to drive in the hard shoulder to let cars pass and i wouldn't want to anyhow because 1) the potholes in there are terrible for the horses and the axles/suspension of the horsebox and 2) cars won't let me get back out on the main road if there's a car parked etc up front etc, so unfortunately if you get stuck behind me, it's up to you to choose a safe place to pass.
 
haminka1 said:
... the driver caused a very long queue of cars and some dangerous overtaking maneuvers in the dark - ....
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the driver did not "cause" the dangerous overtaking. The overtakers made a decision to dangerously overtake in the dark. Nobody makes anybody do anything.

It would be interesting to calculate how much time those dangerous overtaking manoeuvre-ers saved by their dangerous driving.
 
Staples said:
100kmph is a limit - not a target. The person in the primera was perfectly entitled to drive at whatever speedhe/she felt comfotable.
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But you would fail your driving test for driving at 60kph in a 100kph zone.

So it must be a target when driving correctly.
 
bb12 said:
if i'm pulling a horsebox on a 100 or even 120 km stretch of road, i'm still resticted to a maximum speed limit of 80km. would drive slower than that normally, depending on the load up and the condition of the road also. only ever really do 80 on a motorway. too bad for the traffic behind, but c'est la vie.

i'm not allowed to drive in the hard shoulder to let cars pass and i wouldn't want to anyhow because 1) the potholes in there are terrible for the horses and the axles/suspension of the horsebox and 2) cars won't let me get back out on the main road if there's a car parked etc up front etc, so unfortunately if you get stuck behind me, it's up to you to choose a safe place to pass.
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In other words - I'm alright, Jack. Screw the rest of yous!
 
shnaek said:
In other words - I'm alright, Jack. Screw the rest of yous!
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i'm just stating fact and what the law is for people like me who are pulling trailers. what do you want me to do? break the law by speeding up or driving in the hard shoulder??( btw if you're driving in the hard shoulder and have an accident in there you're not insured) . Or would you prefer me to pull in and stop everytime a car comes up behind?

i don't see the point of this thread. just because a road has a speed limit of 100 does not mean you can always go that speed limit: you can't go that fast in fog, heavy rain, ice, heavy winds etc. you drive according to the conditions so if you happen to come across a slower car then that's just the conditions on that road at that time and it's up to you to adjust your driving to them accordingly.

if you're not in a place where you can overtake, then sit back, chill, relax. you're not travelling in a time machine, so driving faster is not going to get you there on time if you're already late. i really hope you're not the type of person who drives up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language of old people driving and puts the fear of god into them!
 
bb12 said:
i really hope you're not the type of person who drives up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language of old people driving and puts the fear of god into them!
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Nah, I just use masks for that sort of thing!

Seriously though, I think a solution would be to implement the French system where, if you have a tailback of perhaps six to ten cars behind you, then be considerate and pull over to let them pass. I know it's not easy to think of others particularly in post Celtic tiger Ireland, but a bit of consideration does go a long way towards keeping everyone feeling happy :)
 
100km is the stated safe speed under normal conditions. Breaching that is unsafe, going 60km in a 100km speed limit is also unsafe as it creates congestion and increases the risk of collision. More cars in one place more risk of driver error, less view of the road ahead and less ability to notice cyclists or pedestrians. Slow driving is nuisance driving, as is excessive driving. In my experience most of the slow drivers seem to fall into the age category where possibly they may have achieved there licences under that amnesty that gave everyone full licences without a test. Shockingly an irish solution to an irish problem.......
 
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