Even then, however, “speed-related” is meaningless for two reasons:
1. They falsely presume the validity of speed limits. Simply being over the limit = “speed-related” even if the speed was not dangerous.
2. “Related” is not the same as “caused by.” A crash can be speed-related when the speed did not cause it. Just one vehicle has to be “speeding,” and whamo, it’s speed-related.

I’d like to correct that. The standard benchmarks is fatalities per vehicle miles traveled, which takes into account the population and vehicle usage.

The funny thing about using Florida as a contrast to Texas is that according to NHTSA, Florida had a higher fatality rate than Texas during every year between 1994 and 2006, except for in 2003 when they tied. In most years, Texas outperformed Florida significantly.

Not only that, but Florida also performed below the 50 state + DC national average for every year of that 13 year period. Using Florida as a standard would increase the national fatality rate by 15-33% per year, which would be a good thing only if you have a death wish.

Speeding related? What does use of the word related mean? This is similar to accidents that are deemed alcohol-related. It’s simply a method to pad the numbers (statistics) by using the word “related” to impugn some possible relationship to cause that may or may not exist.

Case in point: If I get into an accident, say … someone runs a stop sign and hits me. Suppose I was just coming home from lunch and had 1 beer (blood alcohol level 0.02 … well below the legal limit of 0.08). Well folks — what we have here is an alcohol-related accident. Wasn’t my fault, the other person wasn’t drinking at all, yet here we have a crash that happened between 2 parties where one of them was drinking. So the government writes it up as an alcohol related crash.

This is the type of nonsensical statistics that governments collect and publish and that organizations like MAAD use to pad their statistics in their public campaigns against drunk driving. It’s complete nonsense and really amounts to lying to the public. If I’m perfectly sober and hit a drunk driver and kill him — that would not only be an alcohol-related accident, but an alcohol related highway death. So, rather than telling us how many accidents drunk drivers actually cause, and how many deaths drunk drivers (over the legal limit) really cause on the highways, we get these padded statistics by use of the word “related”. It allows organizations to make the problem look worse than it really is and sell more regulation to public through the fraudulent use of statistics that don’t mean what they are implied to mean.

About European accident rates. The 16 to 18 year group can’t drive and there are fewer old cars on the road (>15years) due to legal reasons

definitely, besides how does this guy know that all the deaths or even a large portion of them were because the driver was going above 75mph?

There’s a simpler solution: Don’t let anyone borrow your car. Hide the keys if you have to. Scared about valets (if they had the time or place to go anywhere at 80 with your car; even hard acceleration is near impossible in most parking lots), then park on the curb. If your kids really need to get some place fast, without you driving, then feed ‘em some bus fare.

Problem solved. Government intervention not needed. Electronic nannies not required. Funny thing is, it’s free as well.

I propose modern ways to prevent accidents: sophisticated electronics, computers and radar.
Cars equipped with the proper sensors can do a lot: know where other cars are, how fast you can safely drive through bad weather, what kind of corner is 10 seconds ahead of you, etc.
We are probably not too far off car technology that can prevent accidents altogether, no matter what speed.
Let’s focus on that.

I lived through the 55-mph national speed limit. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. I’m all for safety, but unnecessary, unenforceable laws aren’t going to keep morons off the road. Hasn’t the accident rate actually decreased in recent years after raising the speed limit back up?

I agree that the PD in my town would have nothing to do if it weren’t for speed traps.

Statistics manipulation is an art, as he so effectively demonstrates. I really couldn’t tell you what his percentages comparison is a picture of though. Maybe he needs a better frame.

Some would choose to regulate us within an inch of our lives. He’s just one more to join the list, along with NHTSA, MADD, etc. Where is that Libertarian party when you need ‘em?

And because I’m a believer in Federalism and in states acting as laboratories to test out laws, I suggest the Old Gray Mare push to have New York be the testbed. That should pretty much remove the need to deliver the NYT to the mostly mid-western (in outlook) part of the state that is more than 50 miles from Manhattan. I’m in favor of anything that gets the Times to bankruptcy quicker.

Wonder if that Wilkinson feller would have anything to say about this idea?

And, oh what a wonderful gift it is! So wonderful, in fact, that it should not be overtaxed. It needs to be protected by computers who, as everyone is aware, are far more intelligent than Man./sarcasm

If this shit ever becomes mandated I’m going to be PISSED.

On a more serious note, I remember some law in the 80’s (70’s?) mandating that speedometers only go to 85 MPH. Were those cars also speed-limited to 85? Or was it the case that once you hit 85 then you couldn’t even tell how fast you were going?

This idea has so many bad foreseeable consequences that the unforeseen consequences must spectacular.

Who cares how long you process food into waste and take up space on the planet if you have to live in a prison of regulation the whole time?

I am no anarchist, but if they go to far, I could become one. So long as the nannies show some restraint, so will I.

That being said, I’m all for tougher drivers training courses.

paykan GT:
Yep…Sudden stops far more dangerous than speeding!

Reminds me of the movie Running Scared: “Deceleration Trauma” being used to describe a body after a 10-story fall.

Getting a driver’s license in Germany is hard. Same with Japan. Real school and tests and stuff. No renewals by mail either. Licensing standards in the USA are amazingly low. Adjusting the driver’s license “threshold” would far and away solve most car wrecks in this country. Demographics with well-earned reps for sketchy automobiling tend to vote however. Soccer moms vote, ditto for the old folks. Until that issue is addressed, Big Mother has no business making my car “safer” by neutering it.

Besides, what kind of moral authority does the US Government have to dictate safety to me anyways? These bums operate the space shuttle and think it’s “safe.”

No, it’s not subjective at all.

See the plot of Deviation from Average Speed vs. Accident Involvement Rate from here:

http://www.intheagora.com/archives/2007/04/corzines_speedi.html

It is more dangerous to driver slower than the flow of traffic (not necessarily the speed limit).

And most fatal accidents occur outside of a restricted highway, late at night, and at 80 mph and without a seatbelt. I don’t see how a speed governor is going to help there. Going 60 down a country road at night is dangerous.