>-----Original Message-----
>From: pic microcontroller discussion list [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]
>On Behalf Of Brian Clewer


>Mike, I see your point here, but I think there is one think motorists don't
>think of.  That is the formula for kinetic energy is   1/2Mass times
>Velocity squared.
>
>If you hit a person and you are going 30mph, you will do a certain amount
>of
>damage, lets say 30 squared is 900.  If you are going 35mph the damage goes
>up 36 percent to 1225...
>
>I am not saying I have never broken the speed limit, but 5 mph over the
>limit is enough to easily kill someone, rather than just break their legs.
>Or if you put it another way, you have to get rid of 36% more energy to
>stop
>the vehicle from hitting someone.

Your point is a good one, but it's often carried to an extreme. Let's face
it... realistically, driving will never be a safe activity. Even if all
speed limits were dropped to 20 or 30 miles an hour (can you imagine the
commute between Denver and Ft. Collins, where I live? 50 miles at 30 mph -
Yikes!), there would still be traffic deaths. At some point, I think we need
to say, you drive your car and take your chances. This may just be the
attitude of someone who drives a tiny car (Miata) in a world of SUV's
(Colorado) since I know that nearly any accident over a mild fender bender
will leave me seriously crippled or dead.

That said, I think reckless driving and other activities which needlessly
raise the risks of driving should be severely punished. Drunken driving,
sloppy driving, erratic driving, and careless driving should all be major
offenses. I personally like the way people drive here in Colorado. Everyone
is courteous, the majority of drivers are competent, use their signals, and
behave predictably. However, nearly everyone drives 10 mph over the speed
limit. The one type of speeding I have little or no tolerance for is the
person, usually from my age group, who absolutely *has* to be going at least
10 mph faster than everyone else, and is weaving in and out of traffic,
slamming on his brakes to avoid collisions, and behaving unpredictably.

I think the ultimate solution for all of this is increased training, and
recurrent training for at-risk groups (namely, young folks and old folks).
IMHO, defensive and performance driving classes should be strongly suggested
and rewarded by governments and insurance companies, if not actually
mandated for licensing. IMHO, even teaching simple techniques like threshold
braking would save many more lives each year than the hundreds of speed
cameras being installed.

Just my thoughts...


- Robert

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