85 MPH: Texas considers highest speed limit in nation

Will government take the liability for a mechanical failure? Of course not. Government has no interest in keeping you or I safe nor does it take upon itself any liability for failing to doing so. Its reason for such things have as much to do with safety as military operations in Libya have to do with humanitarian purposes.

The state of Illinois has no vehicle inspections. Yet equipment failures don't appear to be any significant issue what so ever. Nor do insurance companies, the ones who would pay out, require them for a policy.

You live in one of the countrys of the world. I live in a different country from the one you live in. We have a different Government to you.

Yeah, I look at the UK for what freedom sapping thing is coming here next.

Since when and how has a number on a sign stopped a teenager?

Thats nice LOL.

Nah, they should to keep the Junior Dale Earnhardts from causing problems. Just because you can drive fast, doesn't mean you *CAN* drive fast.

Just watch the next time a Honda Civic with a fart horn pulls up next to you to get my drift.

Hey...Hachiroku...Drift...Way Kewl, dude!

Those Letters (STOP) on that sign in Midland,Texas didn't STOP Laura Welch.Resulted in disastrous Results for her high school boyfriend. cuhulin

Who's talking teenagers...?

Ok... Since when and how has a number on a sign stopped anyone?

Gee, I gave you your answer! :)

Actually, I never drive over 70. Well, rarely. Above that requires too much attention.

THat, plus others on the road who shouldn't be...

Some people don't mind paying attention to the task at hand, driving.

Because someone pulled a number out of his ass?

"hls" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

My province (Ontario, Canada) has never had any sort of annual safety inspection. People can, and do, drive their cars all over the place with all sorts of horrible things wrong with the car.

You appear to assert that people fail to adjust their driving habits to account for obvious defects in their vehicles. Were that so, one would expect a significant number of collisions to involve a vehicle with a mechanical defect of some kind. It would also be logical to assume that my province, with the least car-friendly weather in North America, no annual safety inspection, and most of its population living in high-density areas, would be the poster-boy for collisions involving defects.

My province, like most jurisdictions, keeps detailed statistics on automobiles and collisions involving them. Among those statistics are figures for the percentage of collided vehicles that turned out to have mechanical defects.

I'd like you to guess what that percentage is (hint: it was 55% higher in

Under Norwegian rules, drive too much over the speed limit and you lose your license for life. The fines for driving just a little over the limit can be very stiff. And the laws ARE enforced.

The issue isn't whether a vehicle involved in an accident had mechanical defects, but instead whether such defect was a proximate cause of, an exacerbating, or even so much as a contributing factor to the incident or injuries.

"That Tune" wrote in news:io2irk$ec$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

In that case, the number I'm looking for would be EVEN SMALLER than it actually is, since it would stand to reason that a portion of the defects would have had no bearing on the collision.

Go on, guess. Remember, it's been asserted that people disregard the behavior and capabilities of their cars when they drive.

Driving 85 requires a higher concentration level and a higher skill set than 65 or 70. Some drivers just can't handle it, and some will feel obliged to drive the limit. Others WON'T, and will stay at their comfort level. Prius drivers will stay at their apparently self-mandated limit of

1. In the left-hand lane (or, right, depending on what side of the road is the "slow" lane".)

It's basically asking for trouble. Germany has (had?) no speed limits on the Autobahn, but are more self regulating than OTHER countries, and the slow ones generally stay to the right. Also, just a turn signal tells them they need to move over. Here, "I'm driving in THIS lane, so DEAL WITH IT" is going to cause a LOT of problems.

Also, it's harder to get a license in Germany or Japan, even though Japan is nationally limited to 62MPH, with a fuel cut-off at ~110.

in Mass they charge you logrithmically after 10 MPH over the speed limit. SHortly after they passed the law some guy on a pocket rocket got a ticket for something like $750, with a $125 "head injury fund" fee. ALL speeding tickets get the $125 fee, so a little goes a long way!

So your argument is that upper bounds should be limited by the slowest ship in the fleet's comfort level? It's an absurd way of setting things up and the disaster it has caused is evident on the roads in everything from traffic jams and worse.

On a limited access highway where people drive properly 100mph is easy and relaxed in a decent modern automobile.

That mentality is a direct result of the USA's underposted speed limits. When you set the speed limit so low you're going to get people who then think that nobody should be passing them.

Also the Montana experience tells us otherwise. People drive like crap and don't put effort in because that is how the system is generally set up for.

Licensing can always be made difficult if desired. The skills and knowledge needed to drive properly at speed with a modern car on a modern road aren't exactly difficult to achieve.

I dont really think that hogging the left lane is a result of underposted speed limits. That lane is usually smoother than the shoulder side lane (here), it does not normally trap water (in heavy rain) like the right lane, and many (particularly older people) have a basic fear of driving in the right lane since they have less lattitude for staying on the road.

The police will occasionally pull you over as this is against the law, but as often as not I see policemen driving slowly down the passing lane.

People here either dont know what the laws are or really dont give a damn.