Paul, at 08:05 on Mar 12 1997, you wrote to David Drummond ...

DD>>>> Considering that I haven't had an accident where I ran 
DD>>>> into something because of insufficient stopping distance, 
DD>>>> does that mean I haven't been speeding all these years?

PE>>> No, it means you were lucky.  

DD>> Bullshit!  It means I'm usually careful.

PE> You've just never been presented with a blackhawk helicopter 
PE> falling out of the sky (etc).

When one rides a motorcycle, one is obliged to "look around". If
one doesn't spot something when driving a car, one gets a bill from the
panel beater. If one misses something when riding a bike, one doesn't get
to make any more mistakes.

It would have to be a very sneaky helicopter for me to miss it coming.

PE> What, going at 1/20 of the speed, you wouldn't have gotten 
PE> your attention back?  Anyhow, were we talking about 
PE> fatalities?  None of those low-speed crashes would have been 
PE> fatalities. 

A couple of years ago an elderly couple died in their stationary car in the
street in Bribane.  A building wall fell on it.  If they'd had a motorcycle
they would have been able to look up and see it happening.

Exceeding the speed limit does not cause accidents.  Inattention, vehicle
defects, and plain lack of skill do (often due to being pissed) cause
accidents.

Blanket speed limits are simply an easily enforced revenue raiser.

David
@EOT:

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