Thread: Speeding On The M5 & M7

We obviously disagree then on what constitutes a suitable standard of highway for high-speed cruising. I don't think that Australia's outback highways are really all that safe for the kinds of speeds you are proposing.

The accident risk increases more than exponentially to the increase in speed. Here's just one example of this kind of study:
http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/ruralspeed/RURALSPEED.PDF

Take a look at the graph Figure 3.6 on page 24.

Even a perfectly formed rural road without traffic in Australia carries particular risks.
1. Most, if not all rural roads in Australia are not fenced for wildlife (I'm talking about roos here).
2. The extremely long distances people generally travel in Australia make drivers highly suceptible to fatigue.
3. The hot climate places additional stress on tyres thereby increasing the risk of blowouts.

The bottom line is that as speed increases, you are more likely to end up in the morgue than a hospital when something goes wrong. Keeping speeds down is more about managing the risk than the reality. Remember the lessons learned in the early days of motoring have resulted in better vehicle and road design and reduced the number of fatalities. Boosting speeds back up just because modern cars and roads are capable of it is certainly NOT going to reduce the road toll any further.

Conversely, I have seen a study in the US where raising the speed limit on a particularly long dull stretch of highway decreased the accident stats.

The police postulated that people got bored at the lower speeds and did other things that stopped them concentrating on their driving.

Originally Posted by spudboy

Conversely, I have seen a study in the US where raising the speed limit on a particularly long dull stretch of highway decreased the accident stats.

The police postulated that people got bored at the lower speeds and did other things that stopped them concentrating on their driving.

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