Re: Almost Reckless driving

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.pl>]

At 16:20 10.11.98 -0600, William Elliott wrote:

>>And that's why I see the speed limits as nothing more but a tool for
>>enhancing revenue. Same speed limits apply to Trabant and UrQ - a most
>>absurd law I can think of.
>
>Actually, in terms of damage or injuries to _others_, I'd venture that a
>Trabant (weighing 1200 lbs) at its top speed (about 60mph... on a good
day... 
>down hill...with a tail wind...) is safer than a UrQ at it's top speed (in 
>excess of 130).

I wasn't suggesting that the drivers should be allowed to drive as fast as
they want. I'm only against a fixed speed limit, given in mph, affecting
all drivers regardless of their skills and the car they drive. There
_should_ be a speed limit - but a limiting factor should be the ability of
the _particular_ driver in the _particular_ car to drive safely and it
should be up to police officer to determine whether the speed was within
safe limits or not.
A Trabant doing 90kph (speed limit in Poland) is less safe than my 5KT at
120-130kph (the speed I, and many other drivers, are usually driving at) in
terms of both passive and active safety. How is the handling of a Trabant?
How are the brakes? What tires is an average Trabant equipped with? 

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)