Speed limits increase in Texas, is it safe?
photo: SH130 concession
Back in October, Texas had the opening of the fastest road in the USA, between Austin and San Antonio (Texas Highway 130). With a speed limit of 85 mph, this stretch of road is boasted to have been built as safely as possible by the construction consortium (Spanish firm Cintra Concession Co. and Zachary American Infrastructure based in S. Antonio). Unfortunately, just 3 weeks after opening, there was the first fatality accident. Given the fact that one of the vehicles was T-boned, the outcome may have been the same even at 65 mph.
As you can imagine, public opinion and experts are split in two different camps. The faster-is-better group claims reduced traffic congestions will reduce the accidents on the road. Their experts state that data shows no relation between higher speeds and higher fatalities on the road. The opponent group is very concerned about the very opposite and responds with a statement of fact; the faster you go, the stronger the force involved in the accident. Nobody can dispute that law of physics.
Time will tell, maybe, who’s right or wrong. Texas is not the only state increasing the speed limit on some of the roads. This is a national trend and it seems a lot of drivers like the change. While we are not physics professors, one thing is for sure, going faster will require drivers to modify their behavior. We, the drivers, need to abandon the attitude that driving is a secondary task.
Secondary to what you ask? It seems to everything from texting to eating a bacon cheeseburger with one hand while picking on the fries with the other. Not paying attention is deadly at 40 mph but at 85 mph? Son, when you are driving at 85-90 mph you should think of yourself as a NASCAR race driver. No…not because you are that good, but because that’s the level of concentration you should have.
Both hands on the steering wheel, turn that radio/iPod down, choose to dine-in instead of drive-through, look ahead, listen and stay focused. You are barreling down the road, sitting inside an object with a tremendous amount of force behind it. To make things worse, there is a similar object coming at you, from the other direction, with the same amount of possible ‘hurt’ to bring to the meeting, heaven forbid should there be one.
If you need a refresher of what it means to be a good defensive driver, you are in the right place.
Be safe,
WirelessDefensiveDriving.com
