Read an interesting article tonight

in Auto Week. It started out talking about how cars and motorcycles today, are getting noisier with straight pipes and such, which according to the author adds to the stress of driving in general. He went on to talk about the carnage on American highways, as people in this country are probably the worse in the world. And with the noise pollution growing on the roars the carnage is getting worse.

I was talking to one of my students last night and the subject was the terrible state of our highways, in this country. I said in Germany if there is a pothole in the road, they don't fill it they replace the whole section of roadway. Then I added inagine what our highways would look like if our government opened up some of the interstates to no speed limits, the body count would surely "decrease the surplus population" to quote the famous words of Mr Scrooge.

Do loud noises necessarily cause stress, or are they a cause of distraction?

Real life apparently contradicts your classroom musings.

quote:

From a Study...

In 1999, after 4 years of no numerical or posted daytime speed limit on these classifications of highways, outside of urban areas, Montana recorded its lowest fatality rate.

...

For the last 5 months of no daytime limits in Montana, the period after its Supreme Court had ruled that the Reasonable and Prudent law was unconstitutional, reported fatal accident rate declined to a record low. Fixed speed limits were reinstated on Memorial Day weekend 1999. Since then, fatal accidents have begun to rise again

...

The study on the effects of no daytime speed limits in Montana is clear. Traffic safety, if anything, actually improved without posted limits or massive enforcement efforts. Highway safety wasn't compromised nor can the lowest fatality rates recorded in modern times be ignored.

The only argument is whether Montana drivers are representative of drivers in America.

but maybe in germany they also don't allow roaring vehicle in autobahn.

i only see in the tv that in USA they have intended places for modified engines to drag or race.

in my country, you cannot run modified engines on the road. it must be on the trailer.

In Germany, it's not about the roaring cars on the autobahn, you're cool once yo make it there, but you can be stopped and ticketed and shut down before and or after you exit, that is if you manage somehow to make it to the Autobahn.

And if you get into an accident and you was going over 130kph, you are at fault for the accident and your insurance can get get canceled or voided. That's why the recommended speed is 130kph. Anything above that is your own risk, but they have way fewer accidents than thye do in the states, but when they do, bring a shovel.

The worst roads are in Missouri. There is no road with potholes in Missouri. TV stations around Kansas City area always talk about mismanagement and shortcoming of MoDOT. On the other side of the state line, in Overland Park, it breaks my heart to see workers digging up seemingly good roads and pave them every year.

I used to write essays and articles passionately about how unAmerican to have speed limits on our roads. As I grow older, I a kind of starting to understand metro traffic is easier to manage (be managed) if there is consistency. That's why it is reasonable and logical to have no speed limit only on highways in Montana....as there are barely any cars.....and thus there is no need for consistency or uniformity.

Though we use the word "free" everytime we speak of America, most of us have not noticed that we have the most enforced restrictions (laws, rules, regulations, statutes, acts, guidelines, and such) in the world. Some of them are in accordance with the Constitution while many others are not. But the fact and matter is -- they still exist. WE MUST NOT FORGET THAT.

More and more cities are installing red-light cameras to send tickets to the owners of the vehicles that ran a red light. This is a classic example of a violation of the constitution. In America, the system works in a way that only the government prosecutor has the burden to prove beyond doubt that the accused is guilty. THE ACCUSED DOES NOT HAVE TO COME AND PROVE THAT HE/SHE IS INNOCENT. In red-light camera case, they are issuing tickets to the owner of the vehicle, not the driver of the vehicle. Many times, the spouse, a son, or a friend drives the car and now the owner has to go to the court and prove that he or she is innocent.

Oh....I have something to say about the loudness of a vehicle. Some males think, all other things being equal, the louder a vehicle's exhaust noise, the more powerful it is. In my opinion, it is a primitive trait of primates lacking sophistication to understand that the loud noise does not necessarily attract females or deter other males. Heads may turn....but in short, you are not gonna get laid because your exhause lacks muffler or the silencer. The same kind of people lack the ability to understand or appreciate comfort. Some of them may still be in a rebellious mode. Those people will never enjoy an AMG S65. They'd rather drive a loud vehicle, preferrably unprotected from the weather, like a motor-cycle, or an old Shelby....across the Nevada desert.

When there is freedom, people have a choice to do good things or bad things. (Yes, lack of enforcemnt is a sort of freedom for all practical purposes.) I don't understand...why overwhelming majority would rather do bad....such as throwing stones at a passerby train. Or driving a loud motorcycle. Not to mention doing some cocaine.

The point in Montana is that a speed limit was absent on certain highways, not that they have fewer cars in the state. Certainly, even in Montana, you wouldn't lift the speed limit in urban areas where you need "consistency" to control traffic flow. You're not claiming that the Autobahn has bumper-to-bumper traffic, are you? Yeah, I didn't think so. On the contrary, where there's no speed limit it's kinda like the highways in Montana, and, well... you figure it out. I know you can.

High-performance exhausts are loud. It's not a caveman trait to have a loud exhaust. If you want the highest performance exhaust it is going to be loud. Even the S65 can be made to go faster with a free-flowing exhaust, which would be loud. Do they have quiet race cars where you grew up?

Sorry Lug. Where monkey man grew up, there was no cars much less quiet race cars. There were only caves and trees, so you would hop trees for transportation.

I am also sorry that I did not know mufflers were restricting the flow of air and thus choking the performance of the engine. Learned something new everyday! Today I learned from a nut....I meant a lug....ooops I meant Lugnut.

Don't be sorry. Just get out of the forest so you can see the trees.

This sounds just like how every argument for pushing high density housing (to concentrate tax base for urban areas) and public transportation starts. I'll pass.

The loud vehicle issue hits Harley's (and similar) in the teeth. If someone would come up with a muffler system that gave the same performance as a tuned open exhaust, I would buy it.

My stress levels went down right after my son got a ticket for his glass pack muffler on his Acura, He changed to the stock muffler, and my intake of anti anxiety drugs went way down. Noise does hurt, As someone mentioned above if you get caught on the autobahn your in deep trouble, Also you can't drink coffee soda, or any that stuff or you get a ticket. Also, you run out of gas on the bahn the police will give you 5 Liters of gas plus a ticket. If you have a rusty hunk of junk car, which I never saw in Germany when I was there, it is confiscated. Imagine what a bloodycrnage there would be if the US opened up an interstate of two to no speed limitsTo paraphase the words of Charles Dickens and spoken by Mr Scrooge, it would decrease the surplus population? ? One other thing Drunk Driving is not tolerated over there. You'll never sit behind the wheel of a car again at least a moving one. Talking on a cell is ilegal even with a head set. Cup holders don't exist, German think we are crazy people for wanting cup holders in cars. They are probably right, even thou I admit I have a cup of Joe moust everyday. But I do pull over to the side of the road or park to make or receive a cell call, I don't answer them when driving.

I drive at least 150 miles every day. I drink coffee or water (from a bottle) and drive every day. I use my cell phone and answer calls while driving. I don't dial out while on the move. I don't eat and drive, except maybe an apple or toasted bread. I think everyone needs to be responsible for knowing their level of concentration necessary to maintain a conversation while driving if they want to do it. I use the speaker phone function a lot and it frees both my hands, but takes the same concentration as with the phone pressed to my head. I think it is like most things we do; the more we practice, the better we get at it. I have learned to give others plenty of room and move over to the right if I am on the phone and on the highway.

I think fumbling with papers, paying attention to a baby fussing, reading, loud music, smoking and grooming are more distracting activities. I see these every day on the road.

Apparently you weren't paying attention, or you refuse to accept reality and insist on sticking to your story? Montana removed speed limits on Intertsates and state highways. The result? NO CARNAGE. Fatalities from car accidents went down. When the speed limits were reinstated, guess what happened? CARNAGE. The fatality rate went back up. Read the study results.

I'll be the first one to admit that i drive worse when i am thinking that a cop might be around cause i am consentrating too much on speed and every little law that i might break rather than being safe on the road. But if i aint thinking about cops then i notice that my driving abitlity goes up cause i am less distracted speed limits are a good idea but i think that being a resonable person knows how fast they can drive and what they can do while they are driving. One of the most distracting thinks to me while on the move is if i have to adjust the mirror or something like that. Thats y i do it b4 i leave but a cell phone is not a problem for me yet i know other people that are the exact opposite.

Well, there ya go. We need two or three speed limits. One for people who have a high opinion of themself, and another one for the rest of the dumb asses on the road. Maybe another one for the truly retarded.

Hey Lug, have you noticed that the more regulation is instilled on us "for our safety"; the more death, pollution through inefficiencies and financial costs occur?

Yeah, that's the underlying point of where this thread has drifted. You just can't die in peace anymore. You have to do it by government regulations.

Freedom in America is only a figure of speech. And the way things are going, it will soon only be a figment of the imagination.

It's not nearly that bad. Come on. Not when you compare America with other countries. Whenever I feel my freedoms slipping away, I think of any other country and whether I'd feel freer there. Look at the big picture, not the details.

That's not to say we should dawdle on our laurels. As soon as you're not looking, whoosh. There goes another freedom for someone else's convenience. You gotta sleep with one eye open. Nevertheless, we in America are way ahead of the world in the freedom game.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lugnut

Nevertheless, we in America are way ahead of the world in the freedom game.

As long as keep a lid on social programs designed to even out the masses.

Those things never last. Heck, look at what happened to the welfare program. If that redistribution of wealth program can go away, any can. If Hitlary gets elected POTUS, we'll get some more, then when she's gone they'll slowly get chipped away. There aren't enough idiot actors in Hollywood to keep the lunacy alive. They'll all have their 15 minutes, then that'll be it.

I hope you are right. The biggest new well fair system in use is the new Medicare part D program. Invented by the republican administration. We need playing cards to keep up with all the free programs gramma gets.

I think it would've been better if I never would've notice the bs and other things this government does. Like here in Germany. I don't know about German politics, don't really care too much, and really don't want to know and I'm at peace. Then again, I'm at peace also beacue the chances of some crazed frantic paranoid "world gonna end" Americean *cough* *cough* I mean person running up on me is pretty slim. And the Germans tend to mind their own darn buisness. Unless you violate that quiet time law, then your neighbor may not like you too much. Do I miss the states? No. Are taxes high here? Yeah, but you really don't notice since it's included in the price. Is gas high? Yeah to the point that I wish I had some American gas, but then again, gas is less than a dollar a gallon in some places in South America. Overall, though America isn't bad, but it's nice to not really have to deal with a bunch pompous all high and mighty Americans 24/7. You may see a few every where even in the bar but that mess don't fly over here. I've seen too many of them get stomped, or worse stabbed or beat to the inch of thier life. I could've help some of them, in fact me and my friends could've turned the tides, but most of the time they deserve it. And Americans tend to forget that getting a gun over here is not as easy as it is in the states, so now they have to dust off them fists, or get ran over if they gonna play the big balled baddest thing on the planet American attitude.

Grannies that need it deserve to be helped. We're one of the few societies in the world that would rather ignore our elders so they can die without bothering us... just because we can't bear to part with a few of our dollars. Personally, I don't mind spending some of my money in this way. Helping poor elderly folks buy some medicine so they don't have to eat dog food, and so they can live out their lives with a minimum of dignity isn't going to ruin this country or any of its citizens. I wasn't raised in a vacuum and I shouldn't die in one, especially if my only sin is that I'm having economic problems which may be out of my control.

Drug companies have created a world of their own where people who need medicines can't afford them. No matter your age, you need assistance, whether from the government or health insurance, to pay for medicines if you have a long-term illness. Conservatives say "So what." Leave the drug companies alone and let them do business. The problem for me is they do their "business" to Americans, not for Americans. They overcharge us because we let them. Same with the entire medical field. I'm not a proponent of socialized medicine, but there's a lot of room to make adjustments based on fairness and equity.

Able-bodied younger people of working age don't "deserve" the same kind of assistance. For the record, those are who I'm bad-mouthing. Leave the needy older folks out of this. As far as the details of a particular program, fine. If there's a problem, fix it or scrap it.

Yeah, that's the unappreciative attitude of today's youth and young adults. Think of all the bad things you can about America and then turn your back. Don't get off your ass and do something about it. Hell no. America owes it to you. If whatever bothers you doesn't fix itself, try to hurt our feelings by claiming you'll abandon America. Hey. Stay there in Germany for all I care. You don't deserve to live here. America owes you nothing.