Dutch Police Use GPS Data to Set Speed Traps

[theroguex]

Anybody who thinks speed kills needs to research the Autobahn in Germany.

Speed doesn't cause accidents, poor driving by practically untrained drivers on crappy roads in badly designed cars does.

Seriously, in the US, you can get your license like it's nothing. They practically hand it to you once you're of age. There should be mandatory driving classes (both defensive driving and performance driving) that last more than just a few months in school, and you should have to pass these classes with flying colors... THEN you can get your license.

 

[palladin9479]

@torque79,

Completely agree with you. I was using the "all else being equal" assumption when doing my post. Obviously individual skill, level of attention and situational awareness play a much greater role in accident rate / damage then the velocity's involved. It was to refute the posters who seem entangled with the "speed kills" idea, something that is deeply misunderstood. More speed = more kinetic energy => more damage, it doesn't mean more speed = more accidents, and as stated its actually more speed = less accidents due to less time spent in transit. If it takes you 20% less time to reach a destination then your chances of an accident have been reduced by 20%. Going 20% faster will not create a 20% higher likely-hood of accident. And thus you end up with a lower chance of an accident, but that accident will have greater consequences. All other things being equal.

And to the poster who attempted to throw in mythbusters, you sir are incorrect. Two objects impacting with opposite directions will have their total kinetic energy added together. The kinetic energy of impact is indeed Object A + Object B. The difference between paper and reality is the angle of impact and size / center of mass for the two objects. The more massive object tends to capable of absorbing more kinetic energy then the smaller mass object. Basically you b@stards driving SUV's need to be more careful then those driving small economy cars.

 

[eddieroolz]

Why not? I have no sympathy for people that willingly speed and end up putting the public at risk.

 

[rosen380]

"And to the poster who attempted to throw in mythbusters, you sir are incorrect. " Well, tell that to the experiment they aired on TV.

They ran one car into a wall at 100MPH and two cars at each other at 50MPH each and all three cars had similar damage. The impact of two cars will add their energy together, but it is absorbed by the two objects as well.