When I ride my motorbike it rides comfortably at about 160km/hr. For that bike it is a very comfortable speed the bike likes. If I want to rip it can do 180plus. It maxes out at 200km/hr. Even at 200 really isn’t that fast for the open highways where I live. But a huge majority of the driver population has a hard time driving at sub 80km/hr speeds so we kind of need to adjust for the lowest denominator. I think the best system would be one where speed limits change based on time of day and weather. Also perhaps drivers could take extra testing and get licensed to go faster. Some people are just more capable then others. I personally feel very comfortable at 200km/hr.
How would you enforce per-driver speed limits? As it stands, car insurance sort-of does this: German policies usually reserve the right to refuse payment if you’re at fault and were going more than 130.
How could this be managed for all the non-German vehicles that pass through? How invasive would this be?
As a sibling comment said, the difference in speed is what makes for the danger, and the driver who stays well under 130 because he feels that’s safer for him and everyone around might be less-prepared to deal with you popping up at 200 as he’s trying to pass a truck lumbering along at 80.
> and the driver who stays well under 130 because he feels that’s safer for him and everyone around
That’s the other extreme that is a part of the problem. Both, the speedster and the slouch think their speed is safer for them. Driving too slow for the traffic around is as dangerous as driving too fast.
> It isn’t symmetric. Being X kph faster than traffic is significantly more risky than being X kph slower than traffic.
You're neglecting one very important fact:
A driver who is correctly taking advantages of the freedom of a derestricted section, following all the rules and driving fast "the right way" doesn't interfere with other traffic at all. Likewise for a driver who is driving in the same manner on equivalent roads in other parts of the world that don't respect their drivers in the same way. If you're driving fast the right way, you don't interfere with anyone else.
Compare that to a driver going significantly slower than the normal flow of traffic. That driver is always interfering with other traffic. Everyone wanting to drive the normal speed has to maneuver around them which creates problems for the next lane or two over. Depending on how easy it is to get around the slow driver they may also create road rage.
Now, obviously if you screw up while driving fast the consequences are generally going to be substantially more severe, but slow drivers cause problems of their own just by being there, no matter how well they're driving otherwise.
There's a reason most controlled-access highways require that your vehicle have a minimum level of power and some even have minimum speed limits. When the flow of traffic is X, a vehicle moving X-20 is a dangerous obstruction.
I recall on the local news a police officer urged people to "go with the flow". Don't speed but also don't doddle since the difference between speeders vs slow pokes is dangerous. If the speed is 100km/h and everyone is going 110km/h or 90km/h do what everyone else is doing.
You are putting others at risk by driving faster because for example the increased forces on your tire dramatically increase the risks of a blowout. They are less able to deal with avoiding obstacles not only from reaction time issues but because their increased momentum makes turning slower. And it keeps going, excess speed doesn’t seem like a big deal but there’s a reason it kills so many people in other vehicles.
> You are putting others at risk by driving faster because for example the increased forces on your tire dramatically increase the risks of a blowout. They are less able to deal with avoiding obstacles not only from reaction time issues but because their increased momentum makes turning slower.
The tires have a speed rating. Have a look at the tire wall. The letter on the tire tells you what speed they are rated for. If you don’t look after your tires, it doesn’t matter how fast you are going to be travelling. A friend of mine was killed in an accident at 20kph.
You need to know what you are driving and don’t be reckless.
Speed ratings aren’t guarantees by some all powerful creator, they are based around various assumptions and tests for manufacturing defects etc. At best you can get some estimates for the probability of failure given specific conditions but I sincerely doubt you have that.
In the end you can’t know what you are actually driving, only make reasonable assumptions about it. I know people that died at low speeds and high speeds, but statistically it’s high speeds that are the most significant risk and there isn’t anything you can do to eliminate those risks.
I have a great tolerance for people taking risks with their own life, oddly less tolerance for people misunderstandings the risks, and minimal tolerance for people putting others at risk.
Which is why I don’t object to people driving motorcycles at those speeds rather than cars. It greatly increases someones personal risks while slightly reducing the risk to others, which is a fine tradeoff. My only request is people take a closer risk assessment rather than blindly thinking they are meaningfully safer drivers than others when taking such risks is already putting them below average.
Feeling comfortable has almost nothing to do with actually being safe at those speeds.
People talk about the Dunning-Kruger effect all the time because it’s so insidious. Doing 200kph on a good bike is very unlikely to kill you the first time. You’re terrified and try and minimize the risks, but soon you’ve done it a few times and it feels old hat. What changed wasn’t skills just desensitization so people end up having higher risk as they start to feel more safe.
There are ways to actually get better, but it’s always going to be extremely dangerous and if you start to think differently it’s very much time to stop.
