It isn't. I've driven all over the world, and extensively in Europe. Between cities, I usually find 160-190km/h to be a good, safe cruising speed.

Distance / speed / time. All are related. If you keep enough distance between cars relative to your reaction time, the speed the cars are travelling at is inconsequential.

I can't imagine how bad-ass it is to get busted street-racing Mom's Explorer... :troll:

Although it's not a popular opinion around here, I'll chime in and say that 160kmph in itself isn't that big of a deal. You can drive dangerously at 80kmph, and drive safely at 160kmph.

In this particular case, if those four friends weren't actually trying to race and outdo each other and were actually just cruising along at 160kmph on the open highway where there is no traffic, I doubt they were putting themselves or anyone else at any more significant risk of harm than if they were cruising at 120kmph. It's all based on circumstances though. If they were doing this with significant traffic and weaving in and out to maintain their speed, that's a different story.

I don't know about others, but when I drive faster, I put myself on higher alert and increase my margins of error. Just the simple fact of driving 160kmph, even in a group, doesn't necessarily mean they were driving dangerously and/or recklessly.

Definitely agree with you about the awareness when you're driving, heck going 130 in my miata makes me pay closer attention because of all the sounds and feel you're getting behind the wheel. In the 997TT however, 160 is leaning on the throttle for a few seconds and you're definitely more disconnected because the car is so much more capable at those speeds.

The only place that I have found that this can be true most of the time is on the German Autobahns. Not sure which countries you have driven in but in almost all of the countries that I have been to, most drivers are simply not skilled or trained enough to make split second decisions and even if you are the most skilled driver, that can be very dangerous!

I suggest all of you to watch this short documentary about the Autobahn, the amount of money that is spent on maintaining the roads is just unbelievable!

That's a bit harsh, as there are a lot of roads around here that have a posted speed limit that is way too low for the condition/design of the road and the traffic flow there is constantly 20-30km/h faster than the speed limit.

On the subject of deporting...

"The 'Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act' targets any immigrants convicted of crimes and sentenced from 6 months to 2 years. Currently those criminals can appeal deportation orders but will no longer be able to do so when the new legislation comes into effect.

Read more: New Canadian law designed to give immigrant criminals the boot

You're not familiar with this stretch of road, are you?

This is 47km of road construction. There are places where you go from smooth new pavement to broken up old pavement; there are angled pavement transitions; there are lots of areas where the lanes do a sudden jog left or right as you transition from old road to new road to temporary road; there are sections where the lane markings are unclear, further muddled by remnants of old lane lines. There are sections where "construction exits" split off into the center median and if you're not watching, you could go straight into the end of a jersey barrier or off into the dirt.

Anyone remember that story from a year or two ago, the BMW that was doing over 140 east of the Port Mann and ran full speed into the back end of a stopped construction truck?

When you're doing that speed, even a small bump can send you airborne, and when your tires aren't on the ground, you have ZERO control - I don't care whether you're weaving or not.

160 may not be a big deal on a GOOD road in GOOD condition with no surprises. Highway 1 between Langley and the North Shore does not fit ANY of those descriptions. Go back and look at the threads that pop up every time there are major changes to lanes and exits - like when they shifted the 152nd exit to the left lanes, and then back again. Things are changing daily on this stretch of highway. You could have driven the road three days ago and not be prepared for what it's like today.

I read a thread over on the BMW forum of some guy who took advantage of picking up his car at the BMW headquarters and driving it around for a few days before having it shipped over and he said the biggest danger on the autobahn is traffic jams and getting disoriented by the high rate of speed. You're basically doing well over 150+ and all of a sudden you start seeing brake lights but you don't realize how fast you're going and you're too late putting your brakes on. I've also read that parts of the autobahn are speed restricted and pop out of no where.

I would never attempt to go full out on the autobahn unless you've experienced driving on European highways.

Grade 10 physics > you.

A Chevy van at 120 km/h will have a shorter braking distance and better ability to avoid accidents (like performing a rapid lane change to avoid an obstacle) than your 7 will at 160 km/h.

There is no evidence that they ware racing or trying to outdrive each other. The term "street racing" has been bastardized. It can simply mean driving at excessive speeds in a pack of cars. If they were truly racing each other, speeds would easily be above 200 km/h.

Yes, I've driven a lot in Germany. But even the French expressways in Provence or some of the A-roads in the UK have traffic that moves at 150-170km/h.

In Germany, I am usually at 160-210 km/h. The A3 TDI usually runs out of breath after 200.

Marco, I was just writing a letter of objection about this and I read this.

I was fined for $3000, yes around three thousand dollars when converted from Dubai dirhams for basically doing nothing :)

I was out in the Lamborghini and a 458 was on my left, we were cruising the whole way and I did not know the 458 or anything, he was just heading to the same direction as I was. We reached a red light, went green, started a bit aggressive at about 50 percent power I would say and reached the speed limit together and kept it there at 80 km.

Few seconds later we are pulled over and long story very short we both got tickets for reckless driving and racing (second biggest offense in Dubai, even bigger than killing someone) no matter how hard I tried to explain that I wasn't even attempting to race and was driving my own path it was just pointless.

Mind you, the street we were on is made out of slippery stones which is impossible to floor it, well at least for the RWD 458 he would just be in the grass before he knows it. If I was actually flooring it and racing I would be in Abu Dhabi before the officer or the 458 would have reached me! :)

The officer made it clear that if two or more cars start at the same time in a aggressive way and even if they don't break the speed limit, it is still racing and reckless driving which is absolutely ridiculous! I mean why would any idiot attempt to race on a very slippery and bumpy road with a million speed cameras.

Anyway $3000 and 16 points on my license(24 points and 3 month suspension), first time I'm getting a fine like this in my life. Sometimes even if your not looking for trouble, the trouble just finds you if your in the wrong place at the wrong time!

No other way to say it, but you didn't think this through or you're the one who missed the physics classes. I've done both, and let me tell you, the 7 is WAY better at maneuvering than a whale of a car with a much higher centre of gravity and much shittier brakes. Have you even *tried* panic braking a Chevy Van from 120, and a 7-series from 160? Could be just perception, but I felt way more in control in the 7.

Physics > Perception

This is why you see so many 4x4s in the ditch with the first dusting of snow.

QFT

Was just going to talk about this. The whole area, right up to the tunnel, is a construction zone with workers at work during the night time. That in itself makes it more dangerous, not just for the drivers, but for the construction crew literally feet away from cars whizzing by. I'm not going to get into the argument about if cars are safe at those speeds are not (it's an actual fact that the majority of main roads in BC have a speed limit artificially set at a maximum of 80% of allowable speed [I made a thread about it with an actual government report, if you really wanted to look it up]), but I'm more concerned about the Class 7 licences, along with the stretch of road they were speeding.

These guys really drag down the whole age group in terms of public perceptions. Honestly, they should be jailed because of their lack of competency on public roads. No joke.

Which actually reminds me of a post on another board a while back:

"The laws of nature do not bend to keep idiots alive, even if the laws of man do."

The debate about speeding goes on, if this province really wants to curb speeding they need to re-evaluate the speed limits. Icbc has a ton of money, spend it and build this community a real race track. This impoundment law is a cash grab, clearly it's not deterring people.

News media at it's finest. Talks about a race in whistler involving a truck and a car, yet post a picture of a completely unrelated incident that happened a long time ago just to get the hype going. :failed:

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?threadid=311954

Just to help refresh your memory, but the driver was drunk which was a major contributor to the accident, not the excessive speeding though it was the high rate of speed and rapid deceleration that killed the 3 people.

Please re-read what you posted and think about it for a sec.

There is a race track out in Mission, but even then people will come up with an excuse to speed on the streets.
Building a race track is just an excuse.

If impoundment is a cash grab, then the government would have made it at 5 km/h over the limit and not 40. Clearly it is not detering people because most people won't be going 40 km/h over the limit. And the ones that do, they do it knowing full well that if they get caught, they lose their car and obviously have more money than brains or have the mentality that they won't get caught.

people need to get their egos checked in this thread..