Hwy 130 speed limit drop

[Jay Bondesen]

Maybe my math is rusty but the twenty miles from Pahoa to Hilo based only on speed would take twenty-one minutes at fifty-five and twenty-six minutes at forty-five. Both of those are faster that we usually take. I'm not sure if it will reduce accidents, that requires getting rid of bad drivers, but changing the speed limit on short trips shouldn't have a huge time impact. I recall an older thread on this subject..

Jay

[Bullwinkle]

the factors seem to be reaction time and the distance between cars -slower speeds mean more tail gating and bunching

the 3 mile or even a 1/4 restriction - is like putting a six inch long piece of pvc - inline with a two inch water main

it will slow flow all the way back to the tank....

[rainshadow]

quote:

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Originally posted by robguz

Why not lower the speed limit to 5MPH?

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This is a great idea!
My bicycle commute would be so much nicer without some boneheaded tailgater thinking they need to rev past 30 cars in the right lane to save themselves 17 seconds or less in their entire drive. (Clue up, tailgaters.)

It's no secret that 'idiots driving 130' is the norm around here. Hats off to Ruderman for at least taking one step, making an attempt.

Is he really anti-science? Please supply some evidence of that, robguz. I'm interested to read it.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bullwinkle

the factors seem to be reaction time and the distance between cars -slower speeds mean more tail gating and bunching

the 3 mile or even a 1/4 restriction - is like putting a six inch long piece of pvc - inline with a two inch water main

it will slow flow all the way back to the tank....

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So perhaps you think an increase in the speed limit will solve whatever the perceived problem is??? Is that correct?

-- rainshadow

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

This list is incidental or circumstantial evidence about the number of accidents on Hwy 130, but it's interesting to look through.
http://damontucker.com/?s=Highway+130

[hotinhawaii]

rainshadow, read the links I posted above. Intuition is not always correct. In fact, raising speed limits can lower accident rates by reducing congestion. And most accidents on highways are caused by people going under the average speed not above.

[steve1]

90 percent of all men are above average drivers.

[punafish]

I don't have strong feelings about this one way or the other, as I'm happy to drive 45-50 mph on that stretch of road. But after lowering the speed limit, at least we'll be able to collect data to see if it was a good idea or a bad one. Depending on the outcome, either Russell says "I told you so," or we continue throwing (verbal) rocks at him. But at least we won't have to speculate anymore. I'll reserve judgment until I see the data.

[kalakoa]

A wonderful idea whose time has come -- however, the current bill doesn't go quite far enough. Just think how many lives could be saved if all speed limits island-wide were reduced by 10mph. After all, this is Hawaii, no hurry, be happy, bang on da drum all day.

[robguz]

I will also reserve judgment until I see the data. Oh wait, there is data from traffic studies elsewhere and it may actually increase accidents. But let's just ignore that because one person with no evidence thinks it might help.

As for the argument that Ruderman is anti-science, please see his proposed geothermal anti-fracking (no such thing!) legislation, or set foot in any of his snake oil, er, unproven supplements stores. Among the many touted cure alls, which he himself defended on this site, are selling miracle cure tap water, which uneducated poor people end up buying (legally) on food stamps. It's completely genius (and inherently anti-science) to sell the same tap water anyone can get for free from the county spigots at great cost in stores by pretending, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, that it is some miraculous medicine. That is one example out of hundreds of unproven and disproven supplements he sells. I am wary of anyone who is so strongly anti-science, and he is no different than a creationist.

[okedokey]

Slower drivers and often lower speed limits can lead to unsafe passing as I have witnessed many times, both over double yellow lines and on the shoulder. So enforcement would be pretty important. Plenty of drivers don't obey the current speed limits.