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Brent P

Certainly where roads are properly constructed and speed limits are reasonable you see less aggressive driving. I've recently moved to N. Texas from CT and I've noticed a very big difference in driving behavior.

In CT if you switch in your turn signal to change lanes, someone *will* try to cut you off. In N. TX if you switch on your turn signal to change lanes, someone *will* drop back to give you more room.

In CT people regularly drive 70 in a 55 zone because the road conditions are sufficient for it but the state refuses to set the speed limits appropriately. In TX people regularly drive 70 in a 70 zone because road conditions are sufficient and the speed limits were set appropriately.

The argument that if you raise the speed limit people will just drive faster has not been backed by any objective study that I've seen. People will drive the speed that is comfortable for road conditions regardless of the speed limit and if you set a speed limit higher than people are comfortable with they will drive slower.

Where there is a problem is in people adjusting for adverse conditions. They choose a safe speed for normal conditions but fail to adjust for wet, icy, foggy conditions. The proliferation and promotion of AWD, ABS, traction control, stability control, etc. and the decline of peoples understanding of the operation of a vehicle has increased peoples tendency to ignore adverse conditions.

Manufacturers are being allowed to imply that 4WD AWD allows you to drive on snow and ice as if it wasn't there which simply is not true. 4WD AWD primarily allows you to get moving in adverse traction situations, i.e. not get stuck. 4WD AWD has little effect on directional control in adverse conditions and no effect on braking control.

Manufacturers imply the ABS will allow you to stop in the same distance under all conditions which is not true. ABS can improve braking control in marginal conditions, but stopping distance are still further than under normal conditions, and ABS is of no help on ice.

Traction control and stability control are both "Band-Aids" for people not learning the capabilities and limitations of a vehicle and are dangerous when manufacturers imply that they will let you drive without accounting for road conditions.

It all comes down to driver skill and training. I drive a fairly heavy pickup and I'm acutely aware that my stopping distance is longer than the cars around me. I'm also aware that without added weight in the rear the stability in ice and snow is atrocious. When I lived in CT I would place 1,000# (1 ton dually truck, smaller trucks would need less weight) of concrete blocks in the bed of the truck in the winter which improved stability and wet braking traction immensely.

When I'm pulling my 10,000# 24' trailer (49' total length with truck) I'm acutely aware that my stopping distance is increased as is the space required for lane changes.

I'm always aware of the bounds of my vehicle and the clearances required for it. I find in both amusing and somewhat scary to watch some people in some of the smallest cars around (Metro, Mini, etc.) who have a hell of a time fitting that car into a space that I have no trouble fitting my truck which is 3' wider and 12' longer into.

I once watched a person in a Ford Expedition (smaller than my truck) try for literally 8 minutes to fit it into a parking space before giving up. Once they left I promptly pulled up and backed into the same space in one maneuver without any issues.

Years ago I worked for a small printing company that had a single loading dock in a rather tight parking lot. There were some truck drivers that would take 10 minutes to back into that dock and would still be all crooked, and some drivers who would back in in 30 seconds and be lined up so accurately that I could measure less then 1-4" different in the space to the dock on each side of the trailer.

Driver skill varies considerably, and most people these days are not getting enough training.

Pete C.