Open Speed Limits for NT?

[TTerror]

Surely we can find a happy medium between being free but getting murdered / killed in multicar pileups / carjacked etc, and being wrapped in regulatory cotton wool past the point of suffocation and much of the time to no real benefit.

I eagerly await your/others suggestion how we can achieve this.

[260BC]

I eagerly await your/others suggestion how we can achieve this.

Basically we need politicians who understand and appreciate democratic ideals, instead we have trash talking, secrecy obsessed, sneaky pricks who will say and do anything to stay in power. Then we have the majority of voters who accept this sort of behaviour providing their political team wins.

People criticise the US but their form of democracy seems to work a lot better than ours. Perhaps because there are sufficient voters there who will not put up with the nonsense we do.

[TTerror]

True, there certainly is a lot more "passion" in the U.S system. However, I would say their parties are more "extreme", in their rhetoric at least which I don't envy at all.

[260BC]

Better to get the political crazies out on the street for all to see than have them hidden away behind the scenes like we seem to do?

[rj_astra]

People criticise the US but their form of democracy seems to work a lot better than ours. Perhaps because there are sufficient voters there who will not put up with the nonsense we do.

Really? Gun laws? Supported by a high % of "voters" yet actively lobbied against in Congress.

[rj_astra]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/230432/r...sition-leader/

ADAC spokesman Andreas Holzel told Germany’s Bild newspaper that the autobahns were safe roads that, despite being used for one-third of the country’s road trips, accounted for just 11 per cent of its serious injuries and deaths in 2012.

ADAC has rather thrown its support behind introducing roundabouts to dangerous intersections and additional passing lanes on minor roads, referring to statistics that show 60 per cent of deaths on Germany’s road network occur on country roads.

Obviously must be the fault of their country roads as we all know how fantastic their drivers are
I honestly think Germans would be shocked to know undivided rural highways in Australia could have speed limits equivalent to their Autobahns.

[260BC]

Really? Gun laws? Supported by a high % of "voters" yet actively lobbied against in Congress.

Why talk about gun laws in this thread but anyway, the imposition of gun restrictions surely depends on what the actual percentage for them is and where that all fits in with their Second Amendment. For what it's worth, if a significant majority want more gun control then why not, that is democracy at work. Which is more than we got here following Port Arthur.

[CWR]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/230432/r...sition-leader/

Obviously must be the fault of their country roads as we all know how fantastic their drivers are
I honestly think Germans would be shocked to know undivided rural highways in Australia could have speed limits equivalent to their Autobahns.

Alot of foreigners can't comprehend the distances we travel in Australia either, for that reason alone you can't compare Australia's country roads to Germany or the like.

[rj_astra]

Alot of foreigners can't comprehend the distances we travel in Australia either, for that reason alone you can't compare Australia's country roads to Germany or the like.

Would you expect German rural highways roads are better or worse than ours? Their rural highway speed limit is no more that 100km/h.
If we can't compare our rural highways with theirs, then why should we make any comparisons between our road environment and theirs?

[rj_astra]

Why talk about gun laws in this thread but anyway, .

Because you babbled on about the USA and democracy. If you had been observing the rabble going on in US Congress about gun control laws you would understand that the USA's federal democracy is at the mercy of lobby groups (far more than here).

[Rorz de Puniet]

Would you expect German rural highways roads are better or worse than ours? Their rural highway speed limit is no more that 100km/h.
If we can't compare our rural highways with theirs, then why should we make any comparisons between our road environment and theirs?

Have you been to Germany? Most of the rural highways are open speed limit.

Almost all of the roads with open speed limits there are directly comparable to our roads here. They're not glass smooth, banked super freeways... they're just normal roads no different to what you would see in Australia... with no speed limit... yet they are safer despite the fact it snows in Germany which realistically should make our stats far better than theirs. But they aren't.

Do you know what the translation for autobahn is? It's car road. It doesn't refer to some mega highway.

[Rorz de Puniet]

I agree with the former and that Aus is full of morons strikes me every time I hit the road (either overly defensive, lane blocking twit or skids on someone's lawn).

It alludes to the wider problem though - that we are being conditioned to do less and less thinking for ourselves. Which has consequent effects of enabling and entrenching the above. This is part of a disturbing wider trend.

The problem with this is you're still having to share the road with muppet australian drivers. In the rare event that one of them actually uses a mirror and sees you coming at an elevated speed, they are then 11ty times more likely to pull in front of you for no reason other than to slow you down because fuck you and your faster speed than I deem to be safe.

The level of driver education here is lacking so far behind what should actually be required is fucking laughable.

Again with the "driver education" ... the problem on the roads is cultural, every lazy arsehole is being a lazy arsehole, not going to drive in the lane they fucking well should be driving in just in case they might have to change lanes or something if they drove in the correct lane. Those drivers know better, they just don't give a shit.

Their attitude needs adjusting, not their knowledge.

I think these problems would sort themselves out if we changed to open speed limits on highways etc. The problem we have at the moment is that at 110km/h or slower you can shit cunt along without paying any attention to things going on around you yet still be relatively safe as there will still be time to react when you eventually do work out what's going on. Add cars doing 250km/h plus into the mix and it's a whole different ball game. Whether you think you're in the right or wrong, if you get rear ended by someone going 140km/h faster than you... it's going to fuck your day up in a pretty major way. The reason the drivers are more attentive in Germany is they have to be. It's not optional, they'll die if they aren't. I think that would catch on pretty quick here, nothing like the very real risk of death to guarentee your undivided attention.

One thing I don't understand is that we have all these studies on road safety, effects of speed limit reduction, fatique etc. How about a study on how much lowering speed limits and over zealous policing of said speed limits costs the country/economy in lost efficiency and productivity? I don't understand why that isn't an important consideration. We live in one of the largest countries with probably the biggest distances between cities and regional centres and very marginal populations in those regional centres. If anyone should have open speed limits... it's us.

[ZammoTheCockroach]

twas afun time back in the days of no points and open speed limits i took advantage of it then as i knew it wasnt going to last

[CWR]

I think these problems would sort themselves out if we changed to open speed limits on highways etc. The problem we have at the moment is that at 110km/h or slower you can shit cunt along without paying any attention to things going on around you yet still be relatively safe as there will still be time to react when you eventually do work out what's going on. Add cars doing 250km/h plus into the mix and it's a whole different ball game. Whether you think you're in the right or wrong, if you get rear ended by someone going 140km/h faster than you... it's going to fuck your day up in a pretty major way. The reason the drivers are more attentive in Germany is they have to be. It's not optional, they'll die if they aren't. I think that would catch on pretty quick here, nothing like the very real risk of death to guarentee you're undivided attention.

One thing I don't understand is that we have all these studies on road safety, effects of speed limit reduction, fatique etc. How about a study on how much lowering speed limits and over zealous policing of said speed limits costs the country/economy in lost efficiency and productivity? I don't understand why that isn't an important consideration. We live in one of the largest countries with probably the biggest distances between cities and regional centres and very marginal populations in those regional centres. If anyone should have open speed limits... it's us.

TOTALLY AGREE, our road rules are based around the lowest common denominator. Which then precludes the driving skill required. A vicsious circle in my opinion.

[260BC]

Because you babbled on about the USA and democracy. If you had been observing the rabble going on in US Congress about gun control laws you would understand that the USA's federal democracy is at the mercy of lobby groups (far more than here).

Me babble, never. Appearances can be deceiving but I'm sure there is plenty of anti gun lobbying going on too. Plus trying to use the emotional shock thing, just like happened here after Port Arthur.

Yank politicians seem to keep pretty well in touch with what their voters want in issues like this, unlike our lot who do as they are told by the boss eg Q hoon laws.