Texas highway would be the first to allow 85 mph speed limit

[A HERETIC I AM]

52. There is a huge difference between a bicycle and an automobile,

so your statement regarding sharing neighborhood roads is spurious.

I've held a commercial drivers license since 1977. I had an operators license for about 6 months and upgraded. I have held the modern CDL since they came out in the late 1980's (got mine in 1989 in Michigan), have over 25 years operating tractor trailers, have been driving automobiles and motorcycles since 1976 and have well over 1.75 million accident free miles in all weather conditions in every one of the lower 48 states and 3 Canadian Provinces and several hundred each in Hawaii, Australia and England, just to include them all. I'm willing to put my driving experience up against anyone on this message board, including former race car drivers. Hell, I've put another 52,000 miles in my back pocket since the first of the year.

I'm pretty sure I am familiar with what causes the majority of accidents, though I am REALLY curious which statistics you are referring to. There are lies, damned lies and statistics, no?

much bigger problems include alcohol, fatigue, distractions (cell phone in particular), vehicle/tire breakdowns, backing up because you missed the exit(!), tailgating, dangerous lane changes, and of course, speeding.

Those "problems" you mention are not all causes of accidents and some raise the hazard level only minimally. While I am no fan of anyone driving impaired, there are millions of Americans that do it every single day and manage to do so safely. Being impaired is in and of itself, not a cause of accidents. Its the mistake the impaired driver makes that causes the accident, whatever that might be. (The point I want to make here is that if I come up on a guy driving straight and smooth in the right lane, he could have a BAC of .03 and I wouldn't know it and neither would you. It's just that the higher the level of impairment, the harder it is to drive straight and generally operate the vehicle in a safe manner) Ditto fatigue, distractions, tailgating, vehicle/tire breakdowns, lane changes and speeding. And in all my years of driving, I can say with confidence that the number of drivers I have seen backing up because they missed an exit is small and while it can be a cause of an accident, I am willing to bet it is a tiny fraction of accidents nationwide. Speeding and 'dangerous lane changes' go to my point I make below regarding the 75th percentile rule.

speed disparity really only matters when a car comes to a dead stop on the highway. THAT, of course, is extremely dangerous.

This statement is complete and utter nonsense. It takes MUCH less than a complete stop to create the hazard, particularly in slick conditions.

but a disparity of 10, 20, or even 30 mph? get real.

Here's your reality for ya; There is a basic safety rule called the 75th percentile rule. The safest speed to travel at, regardless of the posted speed limit is that speed which 75% of the traffic is flowing. If the speed limit is 65 and 75% of the traffic is flowing at 75mph, the safest speed to travel is 75. Conversely, if the speed limit is 80 and 75% of the traffic is doing your favorite 55mph, the safest speed to travel is 55. Where speed disparity has the greatest effect and therefore causes accidents (regularly, I should add) is when someone is traveling outside that 75th percentile, either well higher or lower, and yes, 10 mph is enough to pose a greater risk. Most certainly 20 or 30 mph. These disparities are what cause dramatic lane changes and tailgaiting, for that matter and while speeding is, as I said above, not inherently dangerous, if the speeder is outside the 75th percentile, then yes, he is a hazard. The most common cause for accidents I see on highways is when a faster driver comes up on a much slower one and either does not have the skill to properly negotiate the situation or other factors come into play (like for instance you and your rear view watching causing you to change lanes to avoid the guy coming up on you and he doesn't anticipate it). Most rear end accidents on freeways are caused by the "accordion effect" where people will change lanes, typically to the left, and each successive lane change slows that lane down to the point it is going much slower than it was before. People tend to not look far enough forward and wait too late to brake, causing a rear end accident.

If you are in that line you mentioned, running 55 down the middle lane and a group comes up behind you that is running the speed limit of 10 mph or more faster than you, then YOU are now the hazard, not the larger group. You and your compatriots are now a rolling chicane, forcing people to pass you on both the right AND the left, and being passed on the right is inherently dangerous. You are the hazard. This can not be stressed enough. BTW, from the point of view of a trucker, more and more miles of 3 lane freeway in the USA have restrictions for the truck to use the left lane, which means if you are running down the center lane, you are holding up MY PASSING LANE. I don't speed in my 18 wheeler. But I do follow the 75th percentile rule to the best of my and my trucks ability and I stay in the right lane until I need to pass someone. As soon as I have completed that pass and it is safe to do so, I GET THE FUCK BACK IN THE RIGHT LANE!

It's fine with me if you want to drive any speed above the posted minimum, as long as it is in the right hand lane where you belong. But once you move over to the left, it is your obligation to do your best to flow with traffic, long line of others notwithstanding.


The fact of the matter is, most Americans have had virtually ZERO decent driver education and the drivers ed system in this country as a whole is a fucking joke. American drivers as a group have horrible lane discipline as well. Getting a drivers license in Germany, for example is tantamount to getting a private pilots license in this country. That's how it should be. And as Hifiguy pointed out above, it is a bigger fine in Germany to pass on the right than it is to speed on the highway. But those tickets are rare because German drivers are taught lane discipline a he also mentioned.

Please, please, stay in the right lane. Lead by example and let the rest of us get on with it.

"Endeavor to never be passed on the right" is a motto that would make us all safer.