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I drive full speed on a highway with a traffic light, so when it's green I go through at about 55 mph. I get a little nervous because a wreck at that speed wou
by massysett 11y ago
I drive full speed on a highway with a traffic light, so when it's green I go through at about 55 mph. I get a little nervous because a wreck at that speed would not be fun.
If that traffic light were removed I would go a lot slower through that intersection, as would most people. Perhaps there would be fewer wrecks, and at low speeds any wrecks certainly would be less harmful.
But that would come at the expense of backing up that highway.
Some road design decisions are made to facilitate speed and throughput, not safety.
- kuschku 11y agoThat's why in some countries streets with limits faster than 40mph have to be fully grade separated from the rest. Especially for streets with no limit it's useful to separate them, or people literally fly through the streets.
- steve-howard 11y agoI doubt that's practical in the US. The country has many miles of state highways (and the older US Routes; US 41 north of Chicago is a popular bypass for a toll road) for which a limited-access road with no at-grade intersections is far too expensive to be worth it, but traffic is light enough that a 55 or 65 mile per hour speed limit is reasonable.
- CalRobert 11y ago>But that would come at the expense of backing up that highway. Roundabouts are a great solution to this. Everyone slows down a bit, instead of either doing 55 or 0. Also, when there IS a collision, you're more likely to get a glancing blow instead of t-boned. Also, when I'm riding (motorcycle or bicycle) this kind of intersection is terrifying because it only takes one person running a light at 55mph to kill you.