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[Flying Horse]

Why risk your life racing these people; let them go on their way is the sensible course of action..I have a 5 litre sports car and have no interest when some guy wants to race me away from the lights..let them dream!

Exactly my sentiments. It's not worth it.

It's bad enough when accidents happen, why openly bring one closer on purpose!

[GreekIslandGirl]

As someone who only ever goes as fast as half the speed limit, I am left wondering why anyone would want to own a sports car or a speedy bike unless they were speed freaks? It's a waste of fuel to drive a powerful car to the shops and back.

- My dad always said "Drive a car in the manner it was built to be driven with, otherwise get a donkey."

[Jerry]

Motorbikes may be fun but they are bloody death traps. In UK motorbikes account for just 1% of road traffic, but over a fifth of all fatalities, a casualty rate that is 61 times greater than that for cars. Two friends of mine gave theirs up after incidents that scared them shitless (one hit a patch of spilled oil). It is not necessarily the riders fault but they lack the protection of cars and tend to be driven more enthusiasically.
A few weeks ago my son's friend (an experienced 44 year old rider) was killed outright when an HGV crossed his path, the driver said he didn't see him.

RIP Jeremy

[Paphitis]

Some people really love their cars, particularly fast cars. It's the engineering, the pick up behind it and the noise.

Those into bikes are into the speed and the sense of freedom. Either you would get a Duke or a fast Japanese Bike or stick to the cruisers like BMW and Harley Davidson. Even they have some get up.

If you only go at half the speed limit, then a vespa is for you. But, being so slow, you are a bigger danger to those around you than those that break speed limits. You are actually disrupting the flow of traffic.

Engines these days are very fuel efficient.

I myself are more into 4 wheeling so torque is more important than speed. You need the power to get out of sticky situations or else you need to winch yourself out. I like to get off the beaten track, explore and camp under the stars.

[Flying Horse]

I know too well the vulnerabilities of motorcycles. I managed to carve a deer in half once when touring Northern England. It jumped over a wall and landed on my front wheel. It came out of nowhere and at approx 60mph one of is was going to come off worse. Thankfully that wasn't me, I carried on riding shaking somewhat, but totally unscathed. It didn't stop me riding, and I'm of an advanced level.
My other half was a victim of 'smidsy'. He had a head on collision with a car, which removed rather a lot of his leg, and smashed it into pieces. After many months of plastic surgery and reconstruction, he got back into riding, again to an advanced level.

Both of us advocate safe riding. That doesn't mean slow. We use bikes as a freedom and love touring. We've also used them for work. We both own sports bikes, and like showing them off. As an addition to the two described previously I also own a third. This one has been featured in a well known motorcycle magazine in the UK.

One thing you find with a lot of riders, is they are very proud of their bikes. Most of them treat them with a lot of respect, and duly other road users.

[GreekIslandGirl]

It's absurd to ignore the countless statistics that prove driving slower reduces the frequency of accidents and the severity of injuries.

Even a lowering of just 1 mile per hour average speed reduces injuries by some 5%.

Everyone has to slow down!

[Flying Horse]

Riding or driving within speed limits is fine. However here in the UK we have Speed Awareness Courses. These aren't just for those who break the law for speeding, and get caught on camera or other means going above and beyond the stated road limit.. These course are also available for such people who bring a danger to others and themselves who drive far too slow for the limit on the road and conditions. The people who are often given these Speed courses in these circumstances are quite often old people who you often wonder how they can possibly look after themselves let alone be allowed out in a vehicle.

[Paphitis]

It's absurd to ignore the countless statistics that prove driving slower reduces the frequency of accidents and the severity of injuries.

Even a lowering of just 1 mile per hour average speed reduces injuries by some 5%.

Everyone has to slow down!

You were not talking about driving 1 or 2 clicks lower. You said you drive at half the speed limit and that is dangerous to yourself and others!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ashes.html

[GreekIslandGirl]

Nevertheless, all the data shows that if everyone slowed down, there would be directly proportional reductions in deaths and injuries. Spurious referrals to "middle lane hoggers" which might aggravate road-rage-prone speeders to cause more accidents is a different matter to the recommendation that everyone should drive slower. Again, it's the speeders that cause the accidents, but they might cite aggravation from people going slowly as their defence.

Speeding also causes high blood pressure in drivers and these are the people most likely to have road rage. Slower drivers are more harmonious.

[Paphitis]

Nevertheless, all the data shows that if everyone slowed down, there would be directly proportional reductions in deaths and injuries. Spurious referrals to "middle lane hoggers" which might aggravate road-rage-prone speeders to cause more accidents is a different matter to the recommendation that everyone should drive slower. Again, it's the speeders that cause the accidents, but they might cite aggravation from people going slowly as their defence.

Speeding also causes high blood pressure in drivers and these are the people most likely to have road rage. Slower drivers are more harmonious.

Driving as slow as you claimed to be driving at is very dangerous. It doesn't take much to understand that driving at 50 or 60kph on a major highway where everyone else is sitting on 100kph or more is a recipe for disaster.

If someone traveling at 100+kph hits you, then you are risking serious injury to yourself at the least and possible death and one of the factors contributing to such an accident is your excessively very slow speed relative to the general flow of traffic.

You can't be asking people to slow down from the speed limit. The limit is there for a reason, and slow drivers should stick to it as much as the lead foots otherwise you are just asking for it. If you are not capable or do not feel confident enough, then maybe you should get some driving lessons.