Freeedom of Speech

[Jean Lansford]

From: M Holmes <fofp at HOLYROOD.ED.AC.UK>
>
> Jonathan Jarrett writes:
>
> >         Surely not by banning cars, but by "limiting" their use to,
> >         say, 70 mph and less in certain areas.  Oh
>
> Doesn't creating that limit actually cause speeding? After all, one
> can't speed where there's no speed limit.

Well, from an engineering point of view, speeding happens
whenever someone drives faster than the road is designed to
be driven on safely. So, if the physics says that a car of
a predefined configuration (the "design vehicle") will go
airborne if it tried to go around a curve at greater than a
given speed, we try to set the speed limit at 5-10 mph below
that speed to give people some cushion for uncontrollable
variables like a vehicle with balder tires or a mis-set
speedometer.

There are often other considerations as well, such as the
presence of pedestrians, but most speed limits in the US are
set by the physical configuration of the road.