+1
Expressways, most of which were designed for driving at 70+ mph, are quite safe for high speed drivers… unless they ignore weather conditions and traffic conditions. Once someone decides that he can drive faster than traction permits, and/or he decides that it is just fine and dandy to continually cut back & forth through small gaps in traffic, then the relative safety of that high speed road becomes nil.
Whether this woman had bad tires, or was not paying proper attention to her driving on this very rainy day, or whatever the cause might be, it’s very sad–especially for the truck driver:
The safest rule
No ifs or buts
is drive like everyone else
is nuts
Burma Shave
6 Likes
Try doing that on I95 through southwestern CT. You’ll end up somebody else’s 'ss.
Mean, this boring driver is minding his business over in the RH lane, doing 50-52mph. Watching all these fools warp by me to the left, and the chorus of red brake lights a quarter mile up ahead of me at the next turn.
I’m going to tell you a truth. I used to wonder the same thing as you with regards to these accidents until I was placed a couple of times in these situations.
For example: today on a multi lane road I was busy scanning the opposite side of the road required by NY state law to ensure I didn’t pass a stopped school bus, and the moment I briefly took my eyes off the vehicle in front of me to look over the opposite side of the road, the driver came to a sudden stop and I had to violently swerve away from the car in front of me to avoid rear ending it.
I can see someone else in such drastic situation overturning their car.
A lot of things can happen to a vehicle overturning outside of our suspicion. We will have to hear from the drivers themselves, if they are honest about what happened.
Good lord not this crap again!
3 Likes
Taking a break between tax computations, I saw a girl giving a YouTube demonstration on what to do if you lose your brakes. Pull emergency brake only for ten seconds so you don’t lock the rears and go off the road.
So then I considered, well what about the diagonal brake system? How likely is it to lose all brakes? Now I’ve had a bad mc in heavy traffic but could still pump the pedal up a little.
Bu then when I did new pads, I had a stuck bleeder valve. I pumped out a full res of brake fluid pumping the brakes up before I realized what was happening. So I’m thinking diagonal or not, if there is no fluid left in the res, you will have no brakes? So what good is the diagonal design? Maybe there are two chambers in the res. I don’t know. Really don’t care. I’ve got great brakes and avoided having to get a new caliper.
Can’t speak to the various modern 4-wheel disc-brake configurations, but my 4-drum truck and rear-drum Corolla, I can always achieve some braking. Doesn’t matter if there is any brake fluid. Both vehicles are cable actuated for the emergency/parking brake.
If the modern diagonal brake set up requires brake fluid to operate, that seems like a bit of a safety disadvantage.
However, I can’t say I’ve ever needed to use my emergency brake to stop b/c of loss of brake fluid. I did need to use the parking brake one time to make an emergency stop, but that problem was the mechanical linkage failed between the brake pedal and the MC.
That can happen to anyone, even if they aren’t overly obsessed with scanning for school buses 
. That is why AEB will soon be standard equipment on all new cars.
I drive according to conditions–both traffic-related and weather-related. On a clear expressway, in good weather, driving at 70+ mph is safe, as long as one’s car and one’s tires are in good condition.
If you are driving at 50-52 mph, while the prevailing speed on that expressway is moving 20 mph faster, you are placing yourself–and others–at greater risk of a collision. Whether you like to hear it–or not–driving a lot slower than other vehicles on a roadway is just as likely to cause an accident as speeding is.
https://www.allstate.com/resources/car-insurance/dangers-of-driving-slowly
2 Likes
1+ to VDCdriver.
In addition you are setting yourself up for a road rage situation.
In my area, not uncommon for the right lane to be running 75-80 MPH.
Georgia, from FL to Atlanta, yep stay at speed limit! I do go the speed limit when out of my home turf.
Yup!
And, that’s not a new phenomenon. My father was ticketed for “speeding” on I-75, near Valdosta, GA, circa 1967. He was not a fast driver, and–at most–might have exceeded the speed limit by 5 mph.
A few decades ago coming back from the Cape I was stopped by a statie speed trap. Statie told me I was doing 80 in a 55. I had just entered the highway in my GMC S-15. I needed another 1/2 mile at full throttle to reach the speed limit. There were 6 cars pulled over…ALL were out of state. I just paid the fine. I’d have to drive 2.5 hours each way to plead not-guilty and THEN get a date to hearing on the citation - which could/would be delayed for another day. This practice is still done today.
Yup!
Snagging out-of-staters–with court appearance dates completely unrealistic for those who are just passing through–is a tactic used by cops in a lot of states. In my father’s case, it was a whole lot easier to just mail the fine to the GA authorities, rather than drive 900+ miles in order to enter a not-guilty plea (which would likely be rejected anyway).
You do what you do.
I do what I do.
Deal?
To both of you: Connecticut is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, let alone in America.
Like I said, from Greenwich up to New Haven, if you try to do 65mph in the RH lane, you’ll end up in someone’s trunk.
2 Likes
The Tire Whisper and Clueless 33 are 2 people whose driving advice should be ignored.
3 Likes
Last month I was driving behind a small aerial boom truck that was travelling 55 mph in a 65-mph zone, I survived the experience. That truck was capable of moving at 80 mph, the driver must have been concerned with fuel consumption.
A few years ago, one of those high-speed drivers rear ended a 60-ton mobile crane that was climbing a grade in the right lane, she is dead.
Yes there are 2 chambers. A leak in one system will not drain both.
Common on FWD vehicles. Rear only won’t provide enough braking. The downside is if your brake fluid is old, you can boil the fluid in both front brakes and have NO brakes at all. A front rear split leaves the rears functional.
NJ is more densely populated than CT is, and yet I have been able to drive 70+ mph on expressways–when conditions permit–for 54 years, sans accidents.
Of course, everyone should do what they want to do, and to do what they are capable of doing. I’m glad you now realize that driving 20 mph below the speed limit is just as dangerous as driving 20 mph over the speed limit. Avoiding accidents–to a major extent–involves driving at the prevailing speed on a highway.
1 Like
Because I don’t subscribe to the belief that the posted limit is the slowest I should be driving?
What is this obsession with doing 70 in any zone?
On highways, I drive 5-3mph below posted, not 20 below, unless conditions(traffic, ice, etc) warrant:
55mph? I go 50
65? 60.
70? 65.
Right hand lane.
Y’all can just do whatever you feel in the lanes to my left.