Darwin Awards…remove self from gene pool!
In your first message you cited trains traveling at 70 mph. One on a track not distracted can detect a train a mile away. Even at 150 mph one has 22 seconds to get off the track. If you can’t get off the track in 22 seconds you can’t get off in 2 minutes. It’s been an issue in NM the last few years. Every account has been of people not paying attention.
Focus, focus, Random. The response in question was about a 30 mph train, as you suggested. and I introduced the 150 mph train concept and the math of detection. You keep adding conditions not in the original statement to bolster your argument.
Again, I state, yes, it IS safer to cross a track with trains travelling at 30 mph. And I reject the additional conditions as they were not part of your original argument.
This doesn’t have to be a zero sum discussion. I think you’ve both made valid points.
The autobahnen in Germany have been vastly improved over the ones Hitler built. Facilities have showers for truckers and auto service bays as well.
In East Germany and the Chech Republic there may still be some with poor access lanes and bumpy concrete pavement.
I felt very confident driving 160 km/hr (100 miles/hr) on the ones in West Germany.
The original idea for the Interstate System was Eisenhower being very impressed with the those in Germany during the war. By the 50s the US system was being built a rapid rate.
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That is true, but one of the experiences that stayed with Ike for a lifetime was his trip in 1919 in a military convoy from DC to California that took an astounding 62 days because of the appalling condition of the roads that existed, and the absence of roads in some areas. The young Lt. Colonel Eisenhower never forgot that experience, and when that memory was played-out against the reality of the modern highways that he saw in Germany, he knew that The US needed to play catch-up with its roads and highways.
If there are four or five, it’s less expensive to take a limo that the Magic Express. We did tat the last time we were at Disney World. Before that, it was always the Disney bus. Great service, attractively priced. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to rent a car that will sit at the hotel forever. Stay on site at take the magic Express. It’s a much better deal than staying offsite and renting a car.
Ok, I drive on a regular basis, there are 2 factors I see, inattentive driving by being on a cellphone, minimal, the biggest factor I see is a red light means yellow to many people, in addition to 20mph over the speed limit is ok, I see these speed racers on city streets many times, most of the time they get to the red light before I do and miss the just turned red light they were looking to run…
True, but I like cars and like to rent different kinds and go when and where I please. So we stay on the grounds and have a car too.
If you go offsite to other attractions, that’s fine. We find there is always something to do at Disney and take their transportation everywhere. The buses can be crowded late, but we don’t have to contend with the parking traffic. Hey, you could afford the Cirque de Soleil show if you don’t rent a car. Outstanding acrobatics.
In this story, titled Why Are Highway Fatalities Spiking, by Mar Stern, published in Torque News, he writes that “Interstates were built with multi-use in mind.” Experts also blame vulnerable users and speed limit differences between Eastern and Western states.
Greater chance of dying by suicide than a motor vehicle?
Heart disease: 633,842
• Cancer: 595,930
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 155,041
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 146,571
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 140,323
• Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
• Diabetes: 79,535
• Influenza and pneumonia: 57,062
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 49,959
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193
Well, that puts the danger of driving in a new perspective, especially when you consider that the United States is pretty far down the list in suicide rates compared to the rest of the world.
All I know is at this point I enjoy being alive. Some of the dumb things I do, for fun, raise my risk of accidental death. I suppose I could seat belt myself between two mattresses in a closet on the lower floor of my house, to be safe, but then my risk of suicide goes up. So, I continue to drive and ride motor scooters, and thumb my nose at the grim reaper. Sooner or later it’ll get all of us. Meanwhile, carry on.
Passenger trains work well in small countries. The ones in Switzerland work so well there is no reason for tourists to travel by car. In the us and canada , commuter trains only work well in high density linear corridors.
Also, the roads are jammed with cars:
;-]
Don’t forget the 3rd largest cause of deaths in the US. Medical errors. 251,000 per year.
And the single worst customer I ever had the displeasure of collecting an auto repair bill from was a doctor.
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My BIL says the same thing about airplane service. He’s an A&P mechanic. He says lawyers aren’t that great at paying on time either.
Medical errors and pernicious bacteria are why hospitals try to discharge patients quickly. I thave hunk if anyone lives long enough, they will have a significant medical error committed against them.