| Instructions for this Report |
| General Information | Rothe's Perspectives | Conclusion |
| General Information |
As an ethos of modernity, speed is used to identify, arrange,
and categorize objects, persons, and events. Speed has become a
"symbolic universe" that makes human experiences meaningful
and interpretable in an electronic age.
In the new age, technology designed
for speed and efficiency has become a central form in life. An example
of how people's
production of speed and technology in social life has
come to have its own significance is the telephone. While I am enjoying
a
visit from a friend the telephone rings. I will likely
decide in favor of the telephone, leaving a colleague sitting unattended.
A
friend has been subordinated for the technical promise
of the telephone, a taken-for-granted device in people's lives that affects
their styles of interaction, and traditional concepts
of distance, time, and access to talk.
In the workplace, time is rapidly taking
on the economic meaning of a valued commodity. IBM features the fastest
computers,
American Express claims that it has the fastest turnaround
time for credit card acquisitions, and Japan advertises its Bullet trains
as the fastest ground transportation in the world at
500 km/h. These signs provide a measure of possibilities, a cultural
coherence that is immersed in the technological form.
Mass cultural events, movies, and even
the Olympic Games promote speed that is available, positive, thrilling
and rewarding.
Restaurants like McDonald's are a modern phenomenon concerned
with social speed. Because people are busy, they often
hesitate to take the time to sit down and enjoy their
meal. Walking speeds in modern cities are becoming faster. The higher the
rate of fast services in an urban sector the faster the
walking speed of pedestrians. People like to do as many things as
possible at a high pace. This helps promote further advances in technological
designs for
even greater speed.
It is premature to predict or suggest
that speed is the singular factor causing accidents. Thygerson (1977) concluded
that over
50 percent of crashes occur within a twenty mile radius
of the home at speeds under thirty mph. According to the British
Columbia Ministry of Solicitor General official statistics,
of all accidents where human factors were the major contributing
factor, less than 10 percent were the result of "driving
at an unsafe speed."
| Rothe's Perspectives |
Rothe provides several perspectives to set speed limits:
For optimal speed one must find the
point where the value of lost time and convenience is balanced by the value
of lives saved.
From an engineering perspective, the safety effect of
speed limits is largely unknown. Engineers say that a "design speed is
often
set as the 85th percentile observed speed" unless set
otherwise by legislation. Design speed is defined as speed at which
on a day with good weather and low traffic density, when driving conditions
are governed solely by the geometric conditions of the road, a driver with
average driving technique is able to drive safely without losing control.
There are two categories for the design speed: One is the highest consistent
speed that can be maintained on a highway section in conventional conditions
of safety and comfort. The second category includes minimum "offered" speed
at tricky driving locations such as curves, under normal conditions of
safety and comfort. On straightaways, speeds may be higher. Planners
select a normative limit (usually 30 MPH or 50 km/h) and control higher
speed roadways with stop signs, yield signs, and/or traffic signals. By
employing this strategy they obtain a conformity in driving, which they
feel increases safety. For "mean speed approach," maximum posted speed
limits are usually selected on the higher limit of the pace.Under cost-benefit
analysis, speed limits are set to minimize overall transportation costs.
High crash involvement rates are found
for "very low" and "very high" speed drivers. Minimum involvement rates
occur at
average speed. The accident rate is about the same whether
the average speed is 55, 60, or 65 or possibly even higher as long
as traffic maintains a relatively uniform pace.
Speed variance refers to the distribution
of speeds on a certain road in a given area, or the number of drivers traveling
faster or
slower than the average speed.
| Conclusion |
In conclusion, Rothe says that drivers
have learned to speed as a normal social behavior despite the threat of
sanctions being
held over them. In other words, speeding is a social
norm.
From this chapter, we have seen that
speeding does not necessarily cause crashes. Decreasing the speed limit
is not the main
solution for traffic accidents. We should concern more
with alertness and caring in order to increase the traffic safety.
Beyond Traffic Safety by J. Peter Rothe (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1994).
