Lots of discussion about speed. However it is not just speed that causes mishaps but speed VARIATION.
This: "Both higher and lower mean speeds have been found to be associated with increased crash frequency, and large speed variation has consistently been found to increase crash" (Speed, Speed Variation and Crash Relationships for Urban Arterials, Science direct dot com). The article goes on to state " This study further confirms that speed variation is observed to have a significant positive effect on crashes, with a 1% increase in speed variation associated with a 0.74% higher crash frequency.". The article wasn't clear of this .74% crash increase was the case for every 1% increase in speed variation, but it seems likely.
Frankly I wasn't quite sure what the numbers were going to say regarding speed variation and accidents, but this is definitely something worth considering. It is apparently something that the authorities know and have known for some time: I've had friends who have received warnings from law enforcement for not keeping up with traffic when they were doing the speed limit but everyone else was going significantly over the speed limit--a pretty solid indication that it isn't so much the speed but the speed VARIATION that is dangerous. Some cowboy madly weaving in and out of traffic is dangerous and statistically will either cause or be involved in accidents at a greater rate than someone going with the flow, but so is somebody plodding along at the minimum speed allowable even in the right lane. Both statistically are deadly, when one considers that variation in speed is a primary cause of accidents.
OK. So... even if you're a couple of minutes late for your tee time, is it really worth the mayhem you might cause by your mad dash to the starter shack? And conversely, if you enjoy tooling along on the MMPs at, say, 12 MPH and someone passes you on a blind corner and a mishap occurs, who is really at fault?
Go with the flow. By far the safest route.
|