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I don't think it really matters that much what type of vehicle you have, as long as the tires are good and you keep your traction. Unfortunately many drivers do not know this as we can clearly see in this video.
A few winters ago I was driving up a steep hill and got about half-way up to the top. The road was solid ice and I began to slide down. I pumped the brakes on the way down, and watched the rear-view to see where I was going to end up as I went down. Made it to the bottom without too much difficulty, then backed up enough so I could get a better running start. Had to take the road at about 65-70 to slide up it.
I think what bothers me the most about this video is that these are the people that cause insurance rates to be so high overall :mad:
The person in the Caddie in Vid 2 was probably thinking what the heck is wrong with these people as they casually drove by....
I never had to work in snow, but I used to watch the cars on the freeway just slide into other cars and after they stopped the drivers still had their foot on the brake. In this photo I hope no one got injured/hurt/died. And you were ok Fintail? I hope so.
Good luck to all and hope all enjoy the games today.
jensad
When you get snows like that, is the ground usually near or above freezing? Or do you get snows on cold ground that's in the low 20s?
The slickest snow is when the ground is above 26-27 F or so and the stuff will pack under tires and form ice from the pressure of the tires.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've talked to drivers from the east who say it is much harder to drive on this slippery stuff, although heavy snowfall is rare in these parts.
A few things everyone should know but not everyone remembers - how to steer, don't stop, don't lock em up. Last time we had a good snow here I was driving my powerful RWD V8 car with low profile all season tires (not the best mix), having few if any problems...then someone who I won't profile in an MDX stopped in front of me for no reason - going up a hill. I honked, and luckily was able to get around. Had I stopped, I might have been stuck.
He just stayed there for about 15-20 seconds with his turn signal on then gunned it and swerved into my lane. :confuse:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The guy tried to claim it was my fault because I saw him and didn't get out of the way.
The police officer who responded did not agree with him.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
That second incident reminds me of what happened to a friend when an idiotic teenage girl ran a stop sign and slammed into his pride and joy Monte Carlo SS. She tried to argue he should have stopped or swerved to get out of her way!
Drivers licensing standards are way too lax.
However I was using cruise control so that didn't happen.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I'll admit I love CC on long boring relatively straight roads. It can be deactivated when needed, but it sure helps for relaxing when there's little else to do but move the wheel now and then and that heavy MB gas pedal makes my foot sore.
Not true. SW WA has the lowest auto insurance rates in the state. Check it out.
A quick trip through the Aberdeen area might not one thinking they are super-skilled
I've been out three times to visit since then and I've had to do the all the driving each time! The last two times I wanted to let her get some rest, so I took her three kids to their baseball practices, piano lessons, day camp and swim parties each day! So I had to learn to deal with L.A. traffic and L.A. Drivers in order to survive!
Drivers in L.A. are the most aggressive, rude and inconsiderate in the country!!! Even worse, they are totally oblivious to the drivers around them and drive as if they are the only vehicle on the road and can do ANYTHING they want! No one uses a turn signal for turning, changing lanes or merging; safe following distance is "just as long as bumpers don't touch"; and lanes ending or merging, where sane motorists would usually use some caution, turn into a foot-to-floor game of 'chicken'!
But on this recent visit, I decided that I wasn't going to spend the week yelling at the top of my lungs (and swearing like a sailor with her three kids, all under age 11, hearing every word) nor would I chew up a few Valium before venturing out on the highway! This time I decided "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" I still used my turn signals and caught myself waving to apologize a few times (I'm Southern, being polite is in my DNA even when I'm in California)...but otherwise it was very liberating!
I probably wouldn't have been quite so bold in a smaller car like my Mazda3, but her 6000-pound Lexus SUV was much more empowering! When something that big cuts in front of a jerk trying to prevent you from merging, he at least has enough sense to admit defeat!!!
The hard thing for me was "turning it off" immediately when I got back to Atlanta. I drove like a bat-out-of-hell all the way home from the airport! =/
That is only because you were exactly that! :P
That's how I felt when I was in Boston a few years ago. It was pretty much lawlessness.
The thing that always cracked me up about LA drivers was how they got next to the curb at red lights and then took off to pass the cars in the right lane... only to stop at the next intersection for another red light. Green means go fast so that you can hit your brakes in a block. Too funny.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/
Government statistics actually reveal that even as I perceive RURAL driving to be much more polite and civil, it really hides a much higher fatality and accident RATE than places like LA LA land.
From time to time, I visit my sister in Boston, so I know what you mean.
Many years ago, I head someone say that what makes the Boston driver so dangerous is that he doesn't fear death.
Rural driving you can go faster, and hit big trees. And deer. And tractors.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Your stat of most fatalities happen at 45 MPH and under is meaningless unless one knows how much driving is done at 45 or lower.
However if you strongly believe that the laws of physics are suspended when one gets behind the wheel of a car try this: Drive your car into a brick wall at 10 MPH then drive it into a brick wall at 110 and let us know the results.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Indeed of what you are saying is true venues such as Nascar etc should experience WAY more deaths than they do as they routinely crash into walls, etc @ sometimes normal xxx digit speeds.
Autobahns have lower fatality rates than American roads. US has lower interstate limits than many countries, but far from lower fatality rates.
As for NASCAR they have accidents all the time, the only reason deaths do occur all the time is that the drivers are in reenforced steel cages wearing fire proof suits.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
As for the studies I will look for them again.
Do you have any studies that state that driving faster is safer?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Anyone who stops to think about vehicle fatalities for a moment should quickly come to the understanding that there are several factors at work here, with many being clearly illustrated by snakeweasel's comments. Here are a few more:
1. Collisions are more likely when vehicles moving in opposing directions cross paths. In other words... at intersections.
2. Most intersections take place on "low speed" roads (i.e., 45 mph or less).
3. Side impact collisions are brutal on the body, which is why there have been so many improvements in side impact protection (including curtain air bags) and such a focus on this area.
4. Modern vehicles are made to protect people from their own idiocy. As such, a vehicle will absorb quite a beating, including speed, and still allow a person to walk away (or survive) the crash. It doesn't matter the level or type of injury; if nobody dies, it is not a fatality.
So, take it all together, and the rates really have nothing to do with speed - they have to do with the type of crashes. Yes, speed creates force and all things being equal, you are more likely to die in an identical crash at 80 mph than 45 mph. But, that is just probability... you could very well survive both crashes just fine. Possibly. But, consider if you were T-boned (a very common crash at intersections) at 45 mph in a brand new 5-star car with curtains. You might live with or without serious injury. Take that same crash with the vehicle hitting you at 80 mph... well, yeah, good luck. :surprise:
So, are you more likely to die by driving faster? No. In a crash, are you more likely to die, all other things being equal, if the force of the crash is greater? Yes.
Please, try not to dismiss points of view because one person's shade of grey is not the same as the other's; it might just be an issue of lighting....
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
He's talking about the role of speed as a causal factor - to what extent does speed (as opposed to driver inattention, driver impairment, weather conditions, mechanical problems, road conditions etc.) cause the accident to happen in the 1st place?
You're talking about the effect of speed on the severity of the accident.
He's looking at the beginning of a chain of events that might end with a fatality. You're looking at the end of that chain.
You're both correct, more or less. You're right - hitting a tree at 65 mph is much more likely to kill than hitting the same tree at 15 mph.
And he's right - speed, by itself, doesn't cause accidents. Many years ago, Car & Driver ran a terrific article that made this point convincingly. If it's anywhere on the Web, I can't find it, so I'm relying on memory. As I recall, the author's argument was that dangerous driving is driving in disregard of current conditions: road, weather, vehicle capabilities, etc.
So driving a poorly maintained car at 35 mph in bad weather while on cold medication that dulls your responses is much more dangerous than driving 100 mph in a well-maintained car designed for that speed, in good weather with excellent visibility, on a dry, well kept-up road, in light traffic & while not impaired in any way.
In short, bad driving decisions cause accidents. How fast you're going after you've made that bad decision will have something to do with your survival.
If 80% of fatalities are at speeds of 45 MPH or less means that 20% of fatalities are speed related then one could say that if 1% of fatalities are at speeds of 5 MPH or less than 99% of fatalities are due to speed. Or since 100% of fatalities are at speeds of225MPH or less than no fatalities are caused by speed.
Your conclusion is flawed as it is based on an assumption that an arbitrary speed. This is ignoring the amount of driving above or below that speed.
What I am looking for is X% of fatalities are at or below a certain speed and Y% of driving is done at or below that same speed. Only then is the stat meaningful.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/wcm/road_safety/erso/knowledge/Content/20_speed/sp- eed_is_a_central_issue_in_road_safety.htm
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Am I wrong in saying it is financial or political? Studies in this subject usually are funded by insurance crooks or lazy public sector revenuers. just like that vague (and if you read it, quite ancient using endless data that's 15-20 years old) EC material that has nothing to do anything here.
Speed limits rise, deaths don't.
Also funny that the European bureaucrat body would use American sourced data for the page you link, but nobody looks to the EU if they want to find responsible and sustainable governance.
R [per mile driven] ~ (exposure )* (accident rate) * ( kill factor)
= (1 + d/v) * (c*v + d*(v - u)^2)* (1 - exp(-v/30))
A mathematical analysis of the "speed kills" arguments
consider that no one drives the SL on the highway (or any road for that matter!) where I am, raising or lowering it doesn't really change much.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/feb/10/speed-related-traffic-fatalities-gro- - ssly-by/
..."A check of any state’s own data generally shows speed as a factor in about 10 percent of fatal crashes. Please read “Crash statistics often mislead,” (June 30, 2007, at gosanangelo.com). These figures — which are already exaggerated — are then further inflated by NHTSA spin doctors."...
..."A report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows the fatality rate on the western autobahn has been virtually identical to the death rates on U.S. Interstates for over ten years"...
http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/autobahn.shtml