WTF: Is it E36's or just their drivers...

[Denton]

Theres always a debate about speeding and if its okay under the right conditions. I look at it like this: Speeding is driving beyond your personal limits and the limits of your car. Don't exceed either of these and you're okay.

That's exactly it.

Being an enthusiast board, it's a safe bet that our limits are much higher than the woman driving the Explorer in the left lane doing the speed limit.

Instead of hitting the brakes when something bad is about to happen, I gun it and get past. It's been drilled into my head since birth to be a precision driver as opposed to a cautious driver.

The cautious drivers are the ones caught in the accidents due to the drivers who have no clue of what they're doing. If they used the gas pedal once in a while they'd be a lot better off.

[repenttokyo]

the thing is, it's the person in the explorer in the left lane doing the speed limit that makes driving very fast on public roads so dangerous. it doesn't matter what you are driving when someone pulls out in front of you doing 55 mph while you are in the triple digits. Not every road is like the interstate in North Dakota - some of them actually have curves and traffic. There are plenty of tracks where you can drive really really fast without becoming a danger to everyone else around you. Regarding statistics, no, it's not cautious drivers who get caught in accidents more than those who are not cautious. I mean, not to offend, but that's a teenage rationalization.

also, the fact that we are an enthusiast board doesn't mean we all drive like maniacs. I am an enthusiast about my car, yes, but I specifically bought it because it was much much slower than my previous car, and I wanted to get out of the world of fast cars for a while.

[Denton]

the thing is, it's the person in the explorer in the left lane doing the speed limit that makes driving very fast on public roads so dangerous. it doesn't matter what you are driving when someone pulls out in front of you doing 55 mph while you are in the triple digits. Not every road is like the interstate in North Dakota - some of them actually have curves and traffic. There are plenty of tracks where you can drive really really fast without becoming a danger to everyone else around you. Regarding statistics, no, it's not cautious drivers who get caught in accidents more than those who are not cautious. I mean, not to offend, but that's a teenage rationalization.

also, the fact that we are an enthusiast board doesn't mean we all drive like maniacs. I am an enthusiast about my car, yes, but I specifically bought it because it was much much slower than my previous car, and I wanted to get out of the world of fast cars for a while.

I don't disagree with you. What we need is driver's education (at least here in the U.S.) but it will never happen. It just won't.

I was also comparing cautious drivers to precision drivers. I would be willing to bet that the "cautious" (note use of quotes) causes more multi-vehicle accidents, while they are far less likely to slide off the road on their own than a precision driver. This is not data and therefore cannot be compared or collected. There are no statistics on this and it is just personal opinion.

I never said anything about driving like maniacs. I don't drive like a maniac. I don't really think that anyone thinks they drive like a maniac. Remember, EVERYBODY ON THIS GREEN EARTH thinks that they are a better-than-average driver. There are no exeptions to this mindset.

If I drove like a maniac and craved speed than I wouldn't be driving a 525iA.

And I do not speed in town/residential/populated zones. Not a good idea, very dangerous there.

[repenttokyo]

i would use the word "in-decisive" rather than cautious, I guess.

statistically, though, bmw drivers are involved in a lot of single driver accidents

[winfred]

not everybody can handle out of the ordinary maneuvers in their car to avoid the other *******, one of the most vivid stand outs in my mind was the time i had to light up the assend and walk the back of the car around the dildo that ran a stop sign and was about to t-bone me

[632 Regal]

i drive like an ass and the turn signal broke 3 years ago...altho I did use it one time to the Chi-town meet

not everybody can handle out of the ordinary maneuvers in their car to avoid the other *******, one of the most vivid stand outs in my mind was the time i had to light up the assend and walk the back of the car around the dildo that ran a stop sign and was about to t-bone me

[Denton]

not everybody can handle out of the ordinary maneuvers in their car to avoid the other *******, one of the most vivid stand outs in my mind was the time i had to light up the assend and walk the back of the car around the dildo that ran a stop sign and was about to t-bone me

I don't make anyone do anything really out of the ordinary.

Example: Four lane road, 45 MPH limit. Mercedes ML430 in the left lane doing 40ish. I'm doing 45 in the right lane coming up on her, about a car length back. She puts on her right turn signal (gotta give her credit ) and begins to move over. I can see that she's not even checking her side mirror, let alone looking back.

Do I slam on the brakes and forgive her stupidity? No. I slam my hand on the roundel on the steering wheel and keep going. No finger or anything like that.

I like to think I'm making others more aware but that's wishful thinking.

[Paul in NZ]

I don't make anyone do anything really out of the ordinary.

Example: Four lane road, 45 MPH limit. Mercedes ML430 in the left lane doing 40ish. I'm doing 45 in the right lane coming up on her, about a car length back. She puts on her right turn signal (gotta give her credit ) and begins to move over. I can see that she's not even checking her side mirror, let alone looking back.

Do I slam on the brakes and forgive her stupidity? No. I slam my hand on the roundel on the steering wheel and keep going. No finger or anything like that.

I like to think I'm making others more aware but that's wishful thinking.

A car length at 40 mph.?You put too much credit in other people.If she drifted out and you kept going and then she got a fright and SLAMMED on the brakes,you would hit her before you even got your foot onto the brake pedal.When thing go wrong things happen awfully fast.And thats at speeds of 100 km/hr/60 mph.You have got to allow for other people to do the wrong thing.

[Ferret]

A car length at 40 mph.?You put too much credit in other people.If she drifted out and you kept going and then she got a fright and SLAMMED on the brakes,you would hit her before you even got your foot onto the brake pedal.When thing go wrong things happen awfully fast.And thats at speeds of 100 km/hr/60 mph.You have got to allow for other people to do the wrong thing.

See, when I was learning to drive my Father told me something that has stuck with me to this day. It basically went something along the lines of:

'When on the road, assume everyone else is a complete f*cking p*llock, dont ever assume they're going to do something predictable because the instant you're forced to rely on that you're pretty much dead.'

I tend to agree with that and treat everyone else on the road as a brainless sheep, which has saved my car and probably my life more than once. You've only got a 50% chance of knowing what someone's going to do if you've got eye contact (ie at a junction,) but on a motorway/freeway they're facing away from you...

Yes, I'll admit I've driven agressively before and still do on occasion if really riled, but you'll find my foot is closer to the brake pedal than the gas pedal. I'll be slowing down as I enter what I'd think of as a dangerous distance - and my foot wont come off the brake until I'm out of it.

[Ferret]

Child Died:
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/A...articleID=5299

Apparently caused by a blowout.

Which means:
1) Extreme excess speed meant he couldnt bring the vehicle back in control, debris trail explained.
2) The legally required 5 point child seat wasnt fitted properly as she was ejected from the vehicle.