Path: utzoo!lsuc!nrcaer!sunray!roberts
From: roberts@sunray.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Newsgroups: ont.general
Subject: Ontario Highway Driving
Message-ID: <6147@sunray.UUCP>
Date: 19 May 89 12:09:28 GMT
Reply-To: roberts@cognos.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Distribution: ont
Organization: Cognos Incorporated, Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 78

We have had an amazing amount of speculation on the subject of driving,
particularly driving faster than the posted speed limit, over the last
few weeks.  Clearly it is a divisive issue, and it would appear that
many of us are misinformed and ignorant, at least with respect to some
of the issues that have been raised.

Consensus (of sorts) to date:

  * In Ontario it is illegal to exceed the posted speed limit under all
    normal highway driving circumstances.

  * The various Ontario police forces apply some interpretation to the
    enforcement of the law, and usually will not worry about 10%-15%
    over the posted speed limit if you appear to be driving safely.

  * The overall driving standard is low in Ontario, very probably because
    the driver certification procedure is set at a low level and there is
    no re-certification.

  * There are some excellent drivers (a few possibly on the net :-)) and
    they are capable of driving safely at far higher than the posted limit
    without endangering their fellow road users.  They are also aware that
    they are breaking the law, and are presumably prepared to take the
    consequences of being caught practicing their high-speed driving skills.

  * There are a large number of drivers in Ontario who resent any such
    demonstration of skill, and are sufficiently ignorant of all the
    various issues to attempt to frustrate such exercises.  This is a
    hazard of which the skilled driver must be exceptionally wary.

  * Radar detectors can indeed be used to advantage, but there are serious
    consequences of being caught with one in your vehicle in Ontario,
    especially if you were using it.  The police have techniques,
    technology, and law on their side, the radar-detector user has only
    native wit.

  * Elsewhere in the world things are different.  There are countries where
    roads are posted with limits which represent the engineering capabilities
    of the road-vehicle system, which are regularly travelled by a high
    percentage of skilled drivers, who therefore have no need of prosthetic
    driving aids such as radar detectors, and where the police forces apply
    sensible laws with careful interpretation deemed fair by all.  I am
    quite certain that I have never driven in such territory, and I have my
    doubts that all these things exist in one place.

  * Driving faster requires more gasoline than driving slower in the same
    vehicle, but it is possible to drive some vehicles very fast and use
    less gasoline than driving a different vehicle much slower.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming!  In all this heated net
speculation there has been an astonishing paucity of facts, saving only the
posting of various sections of the Highway Traffic Act.  Have there ever
been, and does anyone on the net have access to, studies that demonstrate:

  a) the incidence of speed-related accidents on Ontario highways?

  b) any correlation between reduced speed limits and reduction in accident
     rates, once an adjustment period has elapsed?  This would be of
     interest based on any heavy-use highway system in the world.

One reason I ask this is because I am lead to believe that the 50 km
stretch of the 401 running across the greater Toronto area is considered
the most dangerous stretch of highway in Ontario, based on traffic
accidents.  The figures I heard were 6,000+ accidents in 1988, 300+
injuries, and 15+ deaths; I repeat, however, that this is hearsay only.
The same hearsay reports that the police attribute the whole lot to drivers
moving too fast for the conditions at all times, but did not state that
this meant driving faster than the posted limits.

I guess we'd all be interested in some facts.  I already know my opinion,
but don't see that it has anything to add to this thread.

Robert_S
-- 
Robert Stanley - Cognos Incorporated: 3755 Riverside Drive, P.O. Box 9707, 
Compuserve: 76174,3024                Ottawa, Ontario  K1G 3Z4, CANADA
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