Hey i have a few questions regarding highway safety, i thought it was neat i had seen hwybear and i wonder if there is any other OPP officers, i have always wanted to ask them some questions. These officers job is to protect our highways and i wanted to ask them some questions, they are entrusted with trying to keep our roads safe so here we go. Anyways as to me i think the most dangerous thing on our roads is Distracted drivers. This leads me to the main point of my post. Why does the MTO, OPP, and Fantino seem to think its speed that is killing on our highways??? I looked here and was amazed maybee you should all look. I actually went to the trouble to go online to the ORSAR road stastics and found this neat table. I find this interesting. For years all the news tells us how many people have been speeding. Even Julian Fantino enacted his big street law threatening to punish many people for speeding excesively. Well regardless of what people say i have one have traveled a fair bit on 400 series highways. I have begun to notice it isnt speed that kills. When the road is wide open at 4 am in the morning how is going 150 km dangerous on a 4 lane road with a concrete barrier. Many places drive fast in other countries and they aren't dying. Speed limits are much higher in the rest of the world. Deaths have been going down for years due to safer cars and better made ones at that. Back in the 70's they put the speed limit down to 100 km/h from 120 to save oil. Well thats done and the speed limit is still 100 km/h. Why is this. Cars have gotten better, safer, and more fuel efficient at higher speeds. Infact there was a study done by the University of Toronto which recommended a speed limit of about 130 km/h on the 401 or somewhere near the 85th percentile. So why is the limit 100 km/h? I am not some bizarre street racer with a total disregard for limits. Anyone who has driven downtown toronto during the day or rush hour knows that 50-60 km is plenty fast enough. There is some sections of the 401 i will admit maybe 100 km/h does make sense. Around where the 400/401/DVP meet that highway is a mess. The 401 after highway 427 is a mess. There is so many cars on it you cant move faster than 80 in traffic. There is collecters and express. The collecter fast lane merges into the slow lane of the express. Its a mess fair enough with 100 km/h in high traffic places, even the autobhan does this. But it really changes at certain times of the day. And it really changes once your outside of the greater toronto area. When there is light traffic and its a 3 lane highway in dry weather with a concrete barrier, 100 km/h is to slow. Why cant 120,140, or even 160 be safe in these conditions? Certainly the cars have gotten better and so have the roads since the 70's. Airbags and seat belts are mandatory now. The low limit causes problems. If they raised the limit the OPP could focus on the really fast drives and the really slow ones which cause the most problems. What happened to all the signs who said move right except to pass? Why is the 401 speed limit 100 km/h along the whole thing? It is clear to anyone that some sections are safer and have less volume and can higher handle limits then other areas. I think the most dangerous thing on our highway is when people clog the passing lane. Some drivers refuse to move over. Someone who wants to traveler faster is going to travel faster. If they wont move hell tailgate. If they wont move hell pass ont he right and race back through traffic to pass him. Move over. People who drive slow can drive slow they jst need to move over. Clogging the road creates more volume and traffic and causes drivers to get angry this is just a recipe for problems. Why cant we have some signs on the highway that say so. Why cant there be different speed limits for different sections. Maybee we should have electronic signs that can be changed according to the conditions. If any cops could let me know what they think i would enjoy to hear what they think as they work on these roads all day. Hwybear i dont know what section of the 401 you patrol but i believe you said u are between london and windsor where is 2 lanes? That section is very dangerous though they call it carnage alley. You guys gfet bad storms. Another thing i have noticed is inconsistent enforcement. There are some sections of the highway youll never see anyone and others are nuts. So why cant we set a realistic speed limit. I am sure many have noticed especially for long journeys outside the GTA on off peak times people are not following these limits. Early in the morning it is quite common to see drivers going welll over 120 km/h when the road is clear.
Montana's rural highways have higher death rates because they have higher rates of drunk driving, lower seat-belt compliance, and many of them go through some treacherous mountainous terrain, at least in western Montana. Many of their roads are undivided two-lane highways which, not surprisingly, also have the highest death rates of any type of road. Southern Ontario, I agree, is completely different in terms of population density and roads, in that we have far more divided multi-lane highways, controlled intersections, etc. However, most Montana residents drive considerably slower than we do, despite the wide-open empty roads of Big Sky Country. When we have serious crashes, police, fire and EMS response time is generally very good, whereas in parts of Montana it can take over an hour to get any assistance, and much longer to get to a hospital. Some of our hospitals (Sunnybrook, St. Mike's) have become experts at treating motor vehicle crash injuries, because they do it all the time. That said... northern Ontario is just as unpopulated as Montana. If they twin the Trans-Canada (hwy 417/17), why not take away daytime speed limits in remote areas? (I'm saying from a theoretical perspective... this gov't would never go for it, of course.)
Montana's rural highways have higher death rates because they have higher rates of drunk driving, lower seat-belt compliance, and many of them go through some treacherous mountainous terrain, at least in western Montana. Many of their roads are undivided two-lane highways which, not surprisingly, also have the highest death rates of any type of road.
Southern Ontario, I agree, is completely different in terms of population density and roads, in that we have far more divided multi-lane highways, controlled intersections, etc. However, most Montana residents drive considerably slower than we do, despite the wide-open empty roads of Big Sky Country. When we have serious crashes, police, fire and EMS response time is generally very good, whereas in parts of Montana it can take over an hour to get any assistance, and much longer to get to a hospital. Some of our hospitals (Sunnybrook, St. Mike's) have become experts at treating motor vehicle crash injuries, because they do it all the time.
That said... northern Ontario is just as unpopulated as Montana. If they twin the Trans-Canada (hwy 417/17), why not take away daytime speed limits in remote areas? (I'm saying from a theoretical perspective... this gov't would never go for it, of course.)
Ive said this a million times. Why do all sections and almost all 400 series highways have the same speed limit? Rural areas should have higher limits and populated areas should have lower limits. Almost all of Europe has this set up. Fine the 401 through toronto you could argue should be 100. There is so much traffic its hard to go that speed anyways. But once you head towards london or montreal the speed picks up. Its not busy and 3 lanes. The limit here should be raised. But i dont need to point out the obvious. The fact everyone is going 120-130 shows how low the limit is anyways.
Ive said this a million times.
Why do all sections and almost all 400 series highways have the same speed limit?
Rural areas should have higher limits and populated areas should have lower limits.
Almost all of Europe has this set up.
Fine the 401 through toronto you could argue should be 100. There is so much traffic its hard to go that speed anyways. But once you head towards london or montreal the speed picks up. Its not busy and 3 lanes. The limit here should be raised. But i dont need to point out the obvious. The fact everyone is going 120-130 shows how low the limit is anyways.
But for some reason, Hwy 401 west of London and hwy 402 the speed drops right down. All the way to Windsor thru carnage alley!! ...just something about that area.....can't put my finger on it .... :twisted:
tdrive2 wrote:
But once you head towards london or montreal the speed picks up. Its not busy and 3 lanes. .
But for some reason, Hwy 401 west of London and hwy 402 the speed drops right down. All the way to Windsor thru carnage alley!!
...just something about that area.....can't put my finger on it ....
Above is merely a suggestion/thought and in no way constitutes legal advice or views of my employer. www.OHTA.ca
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