Wesley Clark motorcade busted, gets speeding ticket in Oklahoma

AP ^ | Feb 1, 2004

[onyx]

Damn, that's a spooky photo.

[festus]

Probably. Which is why the cop gave tickets to everyone and not just the originally targeted car I suspect.

[Indie]

NO, I won't even get involved.

~Ex Dallas PD [and yeah I know what 85 looks like on people...hamburger]

[festus]

Even if you rely on the "most cops give you ten" or "five" or whatever you have to account for how accurate your speedometer is.

Between my 94 corolla and my 94 mustang speedometers was about 5 mph of variance at 45 mph. I tested this with radar equipment. The results were consistent.

[texasflower]

came to the conclusion that in Texas 70 MPH really means 85

Yes, it does.

[ambrose]

Clark is a loon... imagine him in control of the nuclear football...

"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary, the missiles are flying. Hallelujah!"

[deport]

And don't you dare get in the left lane doing a mere 75.

---

The other problem of left lane driving is Texas has a regulation now that the left lane if for passing only... so driving in it for extended periods is ticketable...

How was the Super Bowl?

[savedbygrace]

Yeah, I saw those signs, too. The thing is, I WAS passing other cars, but I wasn't passing them as fast as the Texas speedburners wanted me to.

I was in Houston for other business, not the Toilet Bowl, er, the Super Bowl.

[lepton]

Yeah, but can the guy behind you and in the lane next to you handle 85 mph, and is everybody's car well-maintained? Is there metal fatigue in your axle, are your brake pads working their way loose? Is everybody on the road sober? Are all loads secured? Is some old lady on the other side of the interstate about to find out that the pain in her chest and arm WAS something to worry about? You can handle 85 mph--can you handle 170? She's coming across the median now, unconscious at the wheel....

I believe you changed the criteria. As for your cases, 45 pretty much fails those tests.

[Triple Word Score]

You don't have to believe that speed increases the risk of death or injury or serious property damage in an accident, and also increases the risk of having an accident in the first place. You do not have to understand the concept of momentum and how that affects what happens in an accident. Believe in your airbag, believe in your reflexes. Hooray for you.

I can't possibly convince you--you don't have the math. You believe you're as safe driving at 85 mph as 45. Okay, fine. Believe that. Ignore physics, ignore the coefficients of friction, ignore the fact that bootleg auto parts are showing up in convincing packaging in auto part retailers across the country. Metal fatigue doesn't happen to your cars, and mechanical problems will only happen when you're parked. Trust your reflexes. Obviously you have a reaction time several orders of magnitude better than we poor common folk.


I hope you do not drive in my state.

[lepton]

Oh, I certainly have the math, and am quite well acquainted with each physics, and physiology. ...And what I said was, your list of objections would apply to your standards at 45.

I also have experience driving at over 100.

The fact is that driving habits have far more to do with the accident rates than simple speed - as well as speed DIFFERNTIAL. There is a REASON that deaths per mile travelled went DOWN when the interstate speed-limit was raised.

Your original argument, that I responded to, was that even under ideal conditions, 85 was not controllable with mere human reflexes "even under perfect conditions". That is simply false. To even begin to argue, you had to introduce all kinds of other factors not related to human reflexes.

MILLIONS of people travel at such speeds daily without having an accident, or even a close call - unless you are saying that Germans are an inherently superior race. :)

[Triple Word Score]

Okay. You can do virtually anything and get away with it, so virtually anything is perfectly safe. Increasing risk doesn't increase risk because risk exists before you increase the risk.

:-)

See? I understand. I get it.

[Quick1]

88 in a 75? They must not have waved to the trooper as he passed them. Most people go at least 90.

[Kirkwood]

Yeah, that car is made for the autobahn and if you drove it there or on the track, it would be relatively safe to do so. I would chicken out going over 80 on the freeways and interstates we have now.