Quote:
Originally Posted by jwslam
Doesn't really matter what you set the limits to: people drive at speeds they're comfortable with. In the case of Deerfoot you have the youngster trying to rip up at 150kph because that's what he's comfortable with, and then the old lady merging at 40kph because that's what she's comfortable with. The lack of driver training for the old lady to understand that merging at 40kph when everyone else is averaging 100kph is NOT safe: that's where the underlying issue is.
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The road design is to help the idiots going way over the speed limit...hence the wide open design of Stoney. Generally it's some inflated sense of "I'm so badass" that causes someone to do that on Deerfoot of all places, but nontheless, if he leaves the road on Deerfoot at that speed, he's probably dead. That's expensive to the road's owner (currently the Government of Alberta). If he leaves the road on Stoney, his chances of dying are pretty low due to the lack of things to hit, the relatively flat shoulders, and the forgiving design of the corridor. It may cost more initially, but it's cheaper than dealing with a fatality.
Driver education is the only way to fix someone (I've seen middle aged guys go just as slow as an old lady onto Deerfoot) who can't or won't accelerate onto a highway. They tried putting the 100 km/h speed signs on the on-ramps on Anthony Henday and it hasn't made a difference. Something more needs to be done.