FACTS FIRST, then opinion. Oregon’s rural interstates are the safest rural roads, accounting for 3.5% of traffic deaths in 2013. Rural interstates in Oregon had a fatality rate of 0.26 deaths per 100-million-travel-miles — FAR FAR LOWER than the 1.35 rate on typical Oregon’s rural roads.
The “dirty secret”? “Excessive speed” crashes are uncommon on interstates. Speed-related crashes are driver failures to adapt to ADVERSE CONDITIONS such as fog, rain, sharp curves, etc — typically impacting slower, but less forgiving, surface roads.
Unsurprising, really: the common causes of crashes are opposing traffic, crossing traffic, roadside obstacles, and sharp curves — all deliberately minimized on rural interstates.
THEREFORE: allowing higher speeds on on the fastest, safest, most fuel-efficient roads in the nation carrying long-distance travelers? Entirely reasonable! That’s why we built interstate highways from sea to shining sea!
Sources:
Federal Highway Administration “Highway Statistics” 2013, Tables FI-10, FI-30.
“Speeding Counts On All Roads”, Federal Highway Administration
Troy Costales said “While we can change the laws of man, we can’t change the laws of nature. When speed goes up for every 10 miles an hour it doubles the energy released when something happens. ”
That is just a bunch of fear mongering. His statement is grossly inaccurate. and science says otherwise.
Kinetic energy, the energy present in a moving object, is related to the velocity squared. 10mph faster from 65 to 75 only increases the energy by 33.1%. To double the energy, you’d have to increase from 65 to 91.
FACTS FIRST, then opinion. Oregon’s rural interstates are the safest rural roads, accounting for 3.5% of traffic deaths in 2013. Rural interstates in Oregon had a fatality rate of 0.26 deaths per 100-million-travel-miles — FAR FAR LOWER than the 1.35 rate on typical Oregon’s rural roads.
The “dirty secret”? “Excessive speed” crashes are uncommon on interstates. Speed-related crashes are driver failures to adapt to ADVERSE CONDITIONS such as fog, rain, sharp curves, etc — typically impacting slower, but less forgiving, surface roads.
Unsurprising, really: the common causes of crashes are opposing traffic, crossing traffic, roadside obstacles, and sharp curves — all deliberately minimized on rural interstates.
THEREFORE: allowing higher speeds on on the fastest, safest, most fuel-efficient roads in the nation carrying long-distance travelers? Entirely reasonable! That’s why we built interstate highways from sea to shining sea!
Sources:
Federal Highway Administration “Highway Statistics” 2013, Tables FI-10, FI-30.
“Speeding Counts On All Roads”, Federal Highway Administration
Troy Costales said “While we can change the laws of man, we can’t change the laws of nature. When speed goes up for every 10 miles an hour it doubles the energy released when something happens. ”
That is just a bunch of fear mongering. His statement is grossly inaccurate. and science says otherwise.
Kinetic energy, the energy present in a moving object, is related to the velocity squared. 10mph faster from 65 to 75 only increases the energy by 33.1%. To double the energy, you’d have to increase from 65 to 91.