Insurance companies are pretty good at zooming in on data and they have a lot of skin in the game because they are the ones paying out on the insurance claims for accidents. I expect they would have a better grasp on this conversation than the politicians in the state of Montana.
Insurance companies do not work on "feelings" they work on data and money.
Here is the link to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System which provides the underlying data for the IIHS report that you posted. What is interesting is that while fatalities are up the fatality rate is way down over the last 20 years. There are only two states where the rate has increased which are Washington and Rhode Island. According to that IIHS report, Washington saw an increase in the max speed limit in 2015 from 70 to 75mph. Rhode Island has had a 65mph max since 1996.
Six of the seven states that have an 80mph max limit have had a fatality rate decrease greater than the USA average rate over the last 20 years with only Texas (-20%) being worse than the USA average (-27%).
Happy to disagree. I think the Insurance companies are properly motivated in this conversation (which isn't often the case). If they say that speed increases are bad because it causes more accidents (which in turn cause more claims and payouts) then I trust that they are not making something out of nothing. What motivation would they have to spend money to do the research and put out a report that suggests speed increases increase fatalities if it is not true?
Politicians on the other hand love to make something out of nothing. The UCP are throwing this out there because they could not care less if 5% more people die while driving faster. They probably do not care if all 5% of those increased fatalities come from their rural voter base.
So now it comes down to the people supporting the change... are they just putting their personal thrill of speed over the collective risk to life? Are they putting the convenience of driving at higher speeds and saving a couple of minutes on a trip over safety to others?
If we are just trying to reduce commute times, why are we trying to do that? Is it to free up people's time to do more valuable things? Perhaps we should focus more on autonomous driving so people can do more valuable things while sitting in a car?
The thing is usually we go after the right wingers here for this, but when one side of the argument is reading the studies, and bringing numbers to the argument, and the other side is bring headlines and feelings, it's a signal.
You brought a headline that insurance estimates tens of thousands of extra deaths. I took the time to click through the second link to the actual study, found the study actually reported a decrease in deaths, but that they forecasted a bigger decrease, and that was the number they were basing their headline on, so the study showed safer and faster, but not safer enough. You responded with the same headline.
Pepsi cited a study without reading it, that took a 6 year snap show 3 proceeding lower / 3 following higher, interesting the 2 proceeding lower speed years happened to be low level outliers when comparted to a 40 or 50 year trend, which could be the direct cause of that standing out as an outlier study. But when you look at the long term, there is a clear trend that is pretty agnostic of speed limit
This isn't about thrills. The roads are built to make people feel comfortable at specific speeds. A plurality of people drive the speed regardless of the speed limit, that is the safe speed. I can think of a couple of roads, a couple of places where the speed limit is too high, and it is noticeable because everyone goes slower than the speed limit.
I also agree with Pepsi comment that infrastructure should proceed speed restrictions, but the argument here is that many existing speed restrictions are behind the infrastructure.
Can we get back to complaining about how the UPC doesn't respect peoples rights, or enjoys lighting the Alberta governments money on fire, as long as it's friends and donars are the ones collecting the ashes.
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This thread is exhibit A of why deplorable governments have in their back pocket a bunch of distractions. It seems to work very well. I mean really who cares about a 10km change in speed on a handful of highways. Can we get back to the separatists who have infiltrated our provincial government.
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This thread is exhibit A of why deplorable governments have in their back pocket a bunch of distractions. It seems to work very well. I mean really who cares about a 10km change in speed on a handful of highways. Can we get back to the separatists who have infiltrated our provincial government.
Elections Alberta approved the APP’s separation referendum question today.
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First of all...a referendum on Albertan Separation is so, so stupid. When Quebec did it, it was close. It was a Political play and because it was close they gained concessions.
Whereas I dont think this is going to be close at all. So...we're going to waste an ass load of time and money, gain no concessions from the Federal Government and get the added benefit of looking like a bunch of self-important, conceited #### for brains bumpkin ass holes in the process.
Lovely.
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First of all...a referendum on Albertan Separation is so, so stupid. When Quebec did it, it was close. It was a Political play and because it was close they gained concessions.
Whereas I dont think this is going to be close at all. So...we're going to waste an ass load of time and money, gain no concessions from the Federal Government and get the added benefit of looking like a bunch of self-important, conceited #### for brains bumpkin ass holes in the process.
Lovely.
I disagree.
The UCP is going to put their hand on the scale. Look at everything they've done to push it along to this point already.
The UCP is going to put their hand on the scale. Look at everything they've done to push it along to this point already.
I think it'll be uncomfortably close
Alright. I guess we'll see. I mean, as much as anyone might loathe the Federal Government, the prospect of Alberta becoming a Sovereign state is the dumbest #### ever.
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First of all...a referendum on Albertan Separation is so, so stupid. When Quebec did it, it was close. It was a Political play and because it was close they gained concessions.
Whereas I dont think this is going to be close at all. So...we're going to waste an ass load of time and money, gain no concessions from the Federal Government and get the added benefit of looking like a bunch of self-important, conceited #### for brains bumpkin ass holes in the process.
Lovely.
Par for the course.
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First of all...a referendum on Albertan Separation is so, so stupid. When Quebec did it, it was close. It was a Political play and because it was close they gained concessions.
Whereas I dont think this is going to be close at all. So...we're going to waste an ass load of time and money, gain no concessions from the Federal Government and get the added benefit of looking like a bunch of self-important, conceited #### for brains bumpkin ass holes in the process.
Lovely.
Even worse, they will likely lump together all of the ####bag referendum questions at the same time:
- Separation?
- Immigration
- Alberta Pension Plan
- Constitutional Changes
And try to ensure that the citizen led questions are not included:
- Forever Canadian
- Defund Private Schools
- Stop coal mining
They are not even going to referendum the Alberta Police Services question because they are just doing it even though no one wants it.
And speculation whether they will send us to the polls for just the referendum questions or if they will combine the referendum with an election and try to ride the MOU high.
As others have stated, I think they're worried about the vote split, more than anything. Add in the lack of time the NDP has had in the leg to do "battle," if they call an early election they're likely going to better than if they wait.
But, they could also just say F it, and continue doing what they're doing, and push through a bunch more garbage none of us asked for.
First of all...a referendum on Albertan Separation is so, so stupid. When Quebec did it, it was close. It was a Political play and because it was close they gained concessions.
Whereas I dont think this is going to be close at all. So...we're going to waste an ass load of time and money, gain no concessions from the Federal Government and get the added benefit of looking like a bunch of self-important, conceited #### for brains bumpkin ass holes in the process.
Lovely.
Anything Quebec gained in concessions, they lost in the business aspect. The reality is, this threat will have a chilling effect on business. Companies will leave, investment will freeze up and the uncertainty is a huge detriment.
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This really is the dumbest f***ing timeline. These idiots are trying to break up the country for completely stupid and selfish reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the province or its people. The fact that this ridiculous bulls*** has come this far should embarrass every Albertan, and I sincerely hope that people in that province will make their voices heard in a big way and put an end to this nonsense once and for all with a big fat decisive “f*** NO!”
If these selfish deplorable assclowns somehow end up getting their way, it will be catastrophic for the province, its citizens, and likely Canada as well. The public needs to send these losers packing.
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Anything Quebec gained in concessions, they lost in the business aspect. The reality is, this threat will have a chilling effect on business. Companies will leave, investment will freeze up and the uncertainty is a huge detriment.
I dont doubt it.
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This really is the dumbest f***ing timeline. These idiots are trying to break up the country for completely stupid and selfish reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the province or its people. The fact that this ridiculous bulls*** has come this far should embarrass every Albertan, and I sincerely hope that people in that province will make their voices heard in a big way and put an end to this nonsense once and for all with a big fat decisive “f*** NO!”
If these selfish deplorable assclowns somehow end up getting their way, it will be catastrophic for the province, its citizens, and likely Canada as well. The public needs to send these losers packing.
They're a bunch of 5 year olds threatening to run away from home but have no idea what they're going to do when they get the end of street with their ziploc bag of cheerios.
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Anything Quebec gained in concessions, they lost in the business aspect. The reality is, this threat will have a chilling effect on business. Companies will leave, investment will freeze up and the uncertainty is a huge detriment.
Honestly, I am not sure that Quebec really gained that much from the separation move. I always felt that their biggest power was in switching their vote to whichever party offered them the most, be it Liberal, NDP, or Conservatives.
It was ironic (tragic?) that even with Harper's conservatives in power, they likely did more for Quebec than Alberta because they needed to work for Quebec's votes and Alberta's votes were a gimmie.
Anything Quebec gained in concessions, they lost in the business aspect. The reality is, this threat will have a chilling effect on business. Companies will leave, investment will freeze up and the uncertainty is a huge detriment.
If Alberta doesn’t generate any tax revenues then technically other provinces can’t collect any transfer payments. They’re playing the long game. You must be one of those 1D chess finance guys Slava.
Road fatalities per 100,000 people:
Alberta: 6.2
Montana: 18.4
South Dakota: 15.2
Wyoming: 24.7
Not exactly a glowing endorsement of this being a good idea. Not surprisingly the states leading the way in road safety have significantly better rates compared to the rest of the US:
Minnesota: 7.1
Utah: 8.2
Wisconsin: 9.9
Thanks for cherry picking a small piece of what I posted. Are those numbers based on state population or also total traffic? It's not like you provide a source. But you satisfied the Activists so congrats.
Having driven many other roads in those states off the interstates there they do have some high speed limits that even had me thinking...this speed limit is a bit high. The road from Buffalo to Cody in Wyoming comes to mind where I didn't have the nerve to drive the limit on a nice July afternoon. I fully admit I have a lead foot and will move faster than most so that is a rarity for me.
I think that one stretch on the QE2 and only that stretch could handle a 120 limit with actual enforcement and variable limits based on the conditions that day plus zero flat level crossings. But theres no shock factor or thanks from the activists for that.
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