Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 20:05:04 GMT From: Josh Landess <jlandessnopsam.com> Subject: Re: ROAD RAGE
On Mon, 08 Nov 1999 20:37:24 +0100, Martin Hilvers <NOSPAMmhilversnopsamir1.inter.NL.net> wrote: >Josh Landess wrote: > >> There's something to the debate they're having, and I'm not sure what = the right >> answers are. Curious to hear what others think, and what the de facto= standards >> are in European areas. > >Last August we traveled in the USA, from LA to Keystone abnd back (SAAB >owners convention - see URL below). >I found driving very relaxing, driving in a comfortable new car (not a >SAAB) with AC and cruise control, compared to my daily 20 km (14 m) >home-work-home trip in a '78 SAAB 95 in congested traffic.=20 >I do not really see the need for a general max speed limit in the US; >well maintained wide roads as space is no problem is desert areas or the >planes and hardly any traffic on most stretches. Also the trip from LA >to Las Vegas (passing Barstow) was ok. All cars seemed to be on cruise >control, driving at more or less the same speed. While you have indeed had a good experience, I must admit that I do = disagree with you on the speed limit issue in the US. Generally, I think some = sort of limit is warranted, if only to give the cops an objective measure by = which to tell people they have gotten out of hand. Safety is important to me, and= I don't particularly wish to share the road with Porsches (or whatever) = doing 170. If they want to have at it, let them rent time on a closed course. The experience you describe is an extreme "relaxing long trip" type of = example, and much driving here is more similar to the enervating traffic-oriented = example you give of driving in Holland. My experience driving in to LA for a = weekend, for example, is that it can be 50 miles of traffic, but at 70 mph. In = other words, there's just enough room for traffic to continue to flow at speed,= but very very little room for error. Quite a challenge the first time you do= it. >Over here (Holland) we have a general max speed of 120 km/h (80 m/h) on >highways but in the west of Holland there is an indicated lower limit of >100 km/h (65 m/h). Some politicians now want to introduce this lower >limit to all of the country, claiming that it is safer and that it >increases the traffic capacity, relieving the traffic jam problem. > >BTW, SAAB now runs an advertising campaign where they claim that >although a SAAB can go fast, SAAB owners do not need to do so to make an >impression, and other car owners try to do so while their cars cannot. A friend of mine made a very similar comment to the Saab ad when he got = his V-6 late-model 200+ hp Camaro. He felt as though he didn't have to drive = hard any more to prove any points. The point they make with me that makes sense is their point as to the = importance of accelleration in the mid-range. Their acceleration from 0 is really = not very good, comparatively, but they do seem to accelerate smartly in the = mid-range and that's good for highway cruising. jl
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