I didn’t think about that, good point. It doesn’t really change my stance, I still think it would save more lives overall. How much over 70 (I assume that’s the average boonies speed cap) do people go in an emergency? How often does that compound the emergency? How often does it improve the outcome?
Speed limits can vary wildly depending on where you are and what the roads are like. Sometimes, it can be as low as 30 mph, 50 is common, 70 typically mostly on highways. I’ve been through some areas where the limits feel weirdly low. In some cases, I suspect it’s deliberate to set speed traps for people passing through who don’t know better.
Now obviously, nobody should be pulling 80 in a 30 zone, but in light of some of the speed limits I’ve personally seen, I absolutely think a hard restriction to the speed limit will cost lives. Maybe it will save others. Maybe even more than it costs. But some will die. Maybe an emergency override would be possible, but of course people will abuse it. I dunno, I’m not sure what the right call is, honestly.
Absolutely. It’s just not viable in every situation and every lifestyle. Sparse rural areas, for example, are always going to be extremely difficult to remove cars from since the population is too dispersed for things like a central bus line or trains that reach everyone. I think cars will be impossible to remove from rural areas until automated cars are common. If people can call a public automated car within 5-10 minutes, they’ll give them up, but until then, it’s going to be very difficult to get people to give up individual cars.
Now, cities, on the other hand, they should be able to ramp up public transportation and eliminate a LOT of cars. Make every bus, every train, every whatever, run every 5 minutes, 10 absolute tops. Make it so people don’t even bother to check schedules, they just walk out to the bus stop whenever because they know they’ll get where they’re going pretty soon. Every time someone sits at a train or bus stop for 15 minutes trying to go get groceries or other every day tasks, they get a chance to sit and dwell on how useful a car would be.
Emergencies happen, and we can’t always wait for the ambulance to come to us, especially if we’re out in the boonies.
I didn’t think about that, good point. It doesn’t really change my stance, I still think it would save more lives overall. How much over 70 (I assume that’s the average boonies speed cap) do people go in an emergency? How often does that compound the emergency? How often does it improve the outcome?
Speed limits can vary wildly depending on where you are and what the roads are like. Sometimes, it can be as low as 30 mph, 50 is common, 70 typically mostly on highways. I’ve been through some areas where the limits feel weirdly low. In some cases, I suspect it’s deliberate to set speed traps for people passing through who don’t know better.
Now obviously, nobody should be pulling 80 in a 30 zone, but in light of some of the speed limits I’ve personally seen, I absolutely think a hard restriction to the speed limit will cost lives. Maybe it will save others. Maybe even more than it costs. But some will die. Maybe an emergency override would be possible, but of course people will abuse it. I dunno, I’m not sure what the right call is, honestly.
massively reducing our reliance on cars would go a long way. my preference would be trains.
Absolutely. It’s just not viable in every situation and every lifestyle. Sparse rural areas, for example, are always going to be extremely difficult to remove cars from since the population is too dispersed for things like a central bus line or trains that reach everyone. I think cars will be impossible to remove from rural areas until automated cars are common. If people can call a public automated car within 5-10 minutes, they’ll give them up, but until then, it’s going to be very difficult to get people to give up individual cars.
Now, cities, on the other hand, they should be able to ramp up public transportation and eliminate a LOT of cars. Make every bus, every train, every whatever, run every 5 minutes, 10 absolute tops. Make it so people don’t even bother to check schedules, they just walk out to the bus stop whenever because they know they’ll get where they’re going pretty soon. Every time someone sits at a train or bus stop for 15 minutes trying to go get groceries or other every day tasks, they get a chance to sit and dwell on how useful a car would be.
Complicated issue – thanks for taking the time to weigh in