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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.

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.