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Safe Speeds?
Is there a "safe way" or "safe speed" to "speed" on the interstate or any non-residential/city/town road? Basically, is it safe(on a normal day-perfect weather) to go 70 mph on an interstate that says 65 mph? Aside from the fact you don't want to get pulled over-are there any reasons not to go 5 mph(and 5 mph ONLY!) over the speed limit? Will those 5 mph make much of a difference in a crash?
What about going too slow? This would be more of an accident waiting to happen, right?
Thanks!!
TCSS!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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I will say this. I live on a roadway that has a 35MPH speed limit. The emergency vehicles may follow the allowed speed rules sometimes, BUT the public drive has fast has they want out there. The county finally put up speed cameras in front of the schools across from our station. The cameras record from 6AM to 8PM on school days. They are giving warning now but will be enforcing the speed very soon There have been a number of pedestrians struck and killed just in this location. One died on the front ramp of our station when they were run down by a large dump truck.
The police did their best to control the speeders but it overwhelm their time to sit and catch the number of speeders.
Crossing guards risk their safety even with school warning signs working to warn the public to slow down.
We have a stop light for our apparatus to get on the street for calls but the public will drive through that too. I can't tell how many times we came close to being hit by other vehicles coming out the doors.
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Permalink Reply by Dave on
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I really do not think there is a correct answer to the safe speed question. Anyone who says you can travel 10 mph over the posted speed limit is opening themselves up to some major criticism. All i can say is, always maintain control of the vehicle you are driving. Going 25 in a 35 and losing control is no better then going 35 in that 35 and losing control. The lawyers will say you should have been going 15.
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I taken the county driver class back in the 70s. Most of the accidents on record and were shown to us in the class on slides that were fatal to firefighters in our county were caused by other drivers. The first recorded death was back in the 1920s. A fire in the county seat had two units responding. The first approuched a car which pulled to the right and let the first unit by then pulled back on in front of the second unit causing it to swerve and crash killing the driver.
A neighbouring dept lost two members and a pumper in the early 70s when they lost traction on a rain slick road cause the pumper's rear wheels to slid into a concrete drainage ditch and stike the pipe at the end which caused the unit to flip killing the two in the jump seats behind the driver and officer. One thing I hate to say their record of apparatus totaled has been two pumpers and a tiller ladder truck over the years and lucky no one else killed in their dept.
After I had just joined we had sever June storms. A dept on the southern end of the county had a traffic accident call. A ambulance with three members went first while the next unit waited for a crew. The ambulance got to the scene picked up the patient and was coming back the way they came for the hospital. The fire unit a open cab combination brush/rescue truck was enroute. This was at night, rain and fog with a curve approuching. Both units ran head on into each other. The crew in the ambulance was killed the patient survived personnel on the brush unit were injuried one thrown over the windshield of the brush unit.
Accidents I remember fire apparatus driven at low speeds resulting in a firefighter being killed by a train backing up at a crossing , a tractor trailer which stuck a pumper pulling away from a stop sign. Both of the accidents happened at night.
My dept has had its share of accidents. A brush unit hit by a car coming off a highway off ramp and failed to yeild to it. A drunk hitting one of our pumpers responding on a call head on and no one died at high speed. A tractor trailer hitting our heavy squad truck while it tried to make a U turn on a interstate medium and had to backup to fit through the barrier. The squad was totaled. These also happened at night.
Alot of times its not the speed of the apparatus but the judgement of the driver, officer and sometimes the crew to get a unit there and back plus knowleadge of the unit thats driven and its limits.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel on
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Thanks for the answers everybody!
I got the idea~do the speed limit, but change my speed to reflect on the driving conditions!
I still have 3 months before I can get my license...I certainly don't want to start that year all over again!!
There have been enough wrecks with teen drivers in my area this year~several of them fatal~I don't want to add to that total!!
Thanks again!!
TCSS!!
Rachel
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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sure sister... gotta learn this stuff if you are gonna drive a fire truck !
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Anytime sister...
Just remember the COST of even 1 ticket is TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO high...
Some departmetns won't let you have ANY points on you license - and some will put you on probation if you have 3 or more... which is ONLY ONE TICKET - ONE INCIDENT - like I said THE COST IS TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HIGH !!!
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there is enought stuff that happens by ACCIDENT - we don't really need to help out fate by being negligent or lazy or overly confident adding to the probability that something bad will happen
I know of LOTS of POV & FD vehicle accidents which did not involve other vehicles... and quite a few people that died as a result of FFs not using their best judgment, being overly tired while driving, or being distracted by their pagers, etc. etc. etc. etc.
And my dept led me in learning "no need to wear your seatbelt" - this generation needs to make sure NOT to pick-up the bad habits of the generation that has come before us - WHEN WE KNOW MORE... WE MUST DO BETTER !!!
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Isn't this like asking "What is the safest way to be dangerous?"
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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We have a State wide SOP from HQ that says no vehicle can go more than 30km/h over the posted speed limit, and obvisously that's only if it's safe to do so- ie: drive to the conditions.
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