Quote:
Originally Posted by TorqueDog
How about we review the speed limits and see if there's a possibility that they're too low for the highway? We're driving vehicles with 21st century technology, abiding by speed limits from the 60s.
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A 1000 kg car travelling at 110km/h has a kinetic energy of 450k Joules. Bump the speed up to 140km/h (only 27% more), and now you're dealing with 722 kJ of energy. Bump it up just 10km/h more (only 36%), and now we've got 800kJ.
I don't care how good a 21st century car is, a little more speed means you are working with basically twice as much kinetic energy. Handling,braking, and safety systems are of course better than they have ever been, but not by the square of the energy they are expected to handle, which is what kinectic energy increases by.
I'm not saying a competent driver can't handle a vehicle carrying exponentially higher levels of kinetic energy, but I am saying that the consequences of human error (by the driver or another vehicle) or mechanical failure are tremendously higher, and ramp up extremely quickly with even a few more km/h tacked on to vehicle speeds.