Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!decwrl!sun!megatest!yin From: yin@megatest.UUCP Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: 55 saves lives revisited - (nf) Message-ID: <206@megatest.UUCP> Date: Wed, 29-Jun-83 09:27:30 EDT Article-I.D.: megatest.206 Posted: Wed Jun 29 09:27:30 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jul-83 00:06:38 EDT Lines: 39 #R:utcsstat:-72700:megatest:4500001:000:1706 megatest!yin Jun 29 08:50:00 1983 Individual cases DON'T prove a statement. I know of someone that survived a car crash because he wasn't wearing his seat belt and was thrown out of the car before the passenger compartment was crushed. I also know of someone who got through a car crash without any broken bones while his passenger was in traction for several months. His passenger was asleep while he was driving. He fell asleep and the passenger woke up just before the crash and screamed, tensing up. It was considered that his relaxed state was what saved him a prolonged visit to the hospital. Despite these examples, I still feel that wearing seat belts is a good idea and falling asleep at the wheel is a bad idea. I don't happen to believe that 55MPH is a good idea or law. Most of the cars I've owned have had their optimum mileage point in the region between 60 and 70. I also feel much more alert at speeds exceeding the speed limit. (In this respect, the California Highway Patrol is fairly reasonable. Their philosophy is to maintain a presence on the road. If you're alert enough to spot them, then you are probably alert enough to be driving at that speed. Regardless, you shouldn't be on the road at all if your mind isn't on the road as well.) I've never seen any statistics that proved that 55MPH saves lives. And I spend enough time on the road, not to want to spend any more. I think we ought to return to a 70MPH limit on our highways, with constraints based on traffic and road conditions. Good judgement should determine the the speed limit, not an arbitrary law (would you want someone on the road next to you that didn't have good judgement?). yin shih (...!lbl-csam!megatest!yin)