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Originally Posted by jonney38
On the MT. seat belt use--the article obviously was not written in the style of an academic study, but is in the style of propaganda. It implies, but does not state directly, that seat belt use went up BECAUSE of speed limits were eliminated. I have my doubts that somehow people reasoned that, "Because gov't is now watching over me, I need to wear my seat belt." Do you know for a fact that there was no "Wear your seatbelt" promotion at the same time. Then, what about DUI enforcement. Was there any increase in DUI enforcement. I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, about 50% of accidents involve alcohol. So, half the accidents will be unaffected by "traffic flow" or made "safer" by driving faster. The thing is, my friend, in real academic research, you cannot change several variables at the same time and then be free to pick and choose the one you want to label as "cause" and "effect". Ya gotta be honest.
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ok and what about the tests the federal NHTSA did that concluded that the 85% was the safest speed, Explain why my STATES WEB SITE states that the 85% speed is the safest speed. Why does almost every single EU country use the 85% speed to set speed limits, and why do many states (Such as California) MANDATE that speed limits be set at the 85% speed. I take it these places just pulled that % out of their ass?
Humans follow a bell curve of ability, Intelligence, weight, size, if you look at statistics most people are pretty close to everyone else. If you set a speed limit at 85% it groups the majority of people close together. Their may be a VERY small portion of the population that can exceed the 85% speed limit safely, but most people who are exceeding it are acting beyond reasonable human ability. When you pass a speed limit law where greater than 50% of the population is violating it, you lose that differentiation. Cops can no longer easily pick out the people who are really going too fast from the people who are actually driving reasonably for a human. You wind up with cops becoming overwhelmed by enforcing JUST speed limits because such a large number of people are doing it.
Yes in theory is people were good little mindless drowns that did what ever the government told them to do without question, because the nanny state knows best, and must protect them from making adult decisions, and deciding what is too risky for them, then sure accidents MIGHT go down...
We don't live in a socialist nation though, and Americans have being forced to do something just because "big brother" said so. Even the dam EU countries don't try and mingle this way with driving (well except maybe Briton)
So unless you plan to install GPS speed restriction in all cars, where the car knows what road you are on by GPS, and knows the speed limit, and adjusts the speed limiter in the car to the current speed limit, their is NO way to enforce speed limits in their current form in the US. A law is only useful if it can be ENFORCED. if you cant enforce a law, the paper it is written on is as useful as the roll of paper you have in your bathroom to wipe your ass with.