If all midair collisions were eliminated...

"Tom De Moor" wrote in message
.be...
In article , betwys1
@sbcglobal.net says...

If the US road speed limit were reduced from 70 to 65 mph, perhaps
30,000 lives would be saved annually. Isn't that worthwhile?

We have apparently decided NOT.




Keywords in your sentences are 'perhaps' and 'apparently'.
You might even claim all roadkills would be saved if US road speed were
to reduced to zero.

In Germany the speed on the autobahn is unlimited, in neighbouring
Belgium the max speed is 120 kph. However in Germany there are less than
half as many killed per 1000 km of highway than in Belgium.

Speed does not kill, failing or absent infrastructure does.

Infrastructure? Maybe 5% tops.

Try Inattention and intoxication first.

Matt

On Feb 10, 1:35*pm, Tom De Moor
wrote:
snip
In Germany the speed on the autobahn is unlimited,
snip

Quite a lot of the autobahn does have speed limits, and some of them
are not particularly fast either.

"Matt Herron Jr." wrote in message
...
I also find this interesting. I wonder if the ratio of 100/1 would be
the same if one only considered glider-involved accidents. My guess
is we have a disproportionate number of mid-airs. Any way to check?

Matt

Whereas I don't see any position in this thread that is inherently better or
worse to place this comment, I have chosen this one on the basis that no
trimming is necessary or usefull.

I really see 2 points that need to be made:

1) Any time that a major factor is eliminated from a statistic, the
proportions will increase for the previously minor factors. Simply by
talking about glider operations, we have eliminated either all or most cases
of fuel eshaustion/mismanagement, crashes during instrument approaches,
collisions with approach light supports, and a lot of other causes when
aircraft are used for training and/or transportation.

2) Any life lost is NOT 1 too many!

In the United States alone, about 4 million people have to die--simply due
to the statistics of human lifespans.

The remark that 27 people would still be alive is simply an assertion that
it is somehow better to die by wasting away in a hospital or hospice than in
the course of doing something productive, entertaining, or even (horrors)
courageous.

We should and do try to perform as safely as is prcatical in our work, our
play, and even in our wars. But we most certainly do not need to justify
our actions to anyone who chooses to experience only simulaton and then
chooses to criticize those who take real action.

There are only 2 reasonable courses of action in dealing with such trolls:
ignore them or push back HARD!

Peter

In article ,
says...

Speed does not kill, failing or absent infrastructure does.

Infrastructure? Maybe 5% tops.

Try Inattention and intoxication first.




Even to inattention and intoxication infrastructure is the answer.

http://www.katchuptv.com/?video=4781

The video shows what happens if a driver gets knocked inconscious at 250
kph.

Tom De Moor

Speed differential is what kills. hit a wall that is stationary when
you are doing the speed limit and its going to hurt. hit granny who
is doing 40 mph in a 60 while you're doing the speed limit and it will
hurt, but not as bad as the wall.

Correction!

I wrote:
If all GA midair collisions were eliminated, ~99% of GA aircraft
fatalities would still happen.

That should be ~97%, not ~99%. Corrected number below.

From Nall Report analysis of U.S. NTSB records:

Total fixed wing GA fatalities:
2002: 518
2003: 555
2004: 510
2005: 491
2006: 488
Total: 2562

Fatalities due to midair collision:
2002: 5

There were 9 fatalities, not 5. There were 5 accidents yielding
fatalities, not 5 fatalities. My misread.

2003: 7

Should be 23.

2004: 6

Should be 10.

2005: 5

Should be 14.

2006: 4

Should be 9.

Total: 27

Should be 65.


http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/03nall.pdf
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/04nall.pdf
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/05nall.pdf
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/06nall.pdf
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/07nall.pdf

cavelamb writes:

Exactly HOW do you think you can prevent ANY midair?

Training, standardization, caution, discipline, and other techniques can
greatly reduce the incidence of midair collisions.

brian whatcott writes:

If the US road speed limit were reduced from 70 to 65 mph, perhaps
30,000 lives would be saved annually. Isn't that worthwhile?

If speed killed, nobody would ever survive an auto race.

What kills is speed that is excessive for a given set of circumstances, and
that cannot easily be addressed by posted speed limits alone. Some
jurisdictions with "reasonable and prudent" speed laws recognize this.

Tom De Moor writes:

Even to inattention and intoxication infrastructure is the answer.

Infrastructure cannot compensate for driver incompetence or impairment.

On Feb 10, 4:04*pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
brian whatcott writes:
If the US road speed limit were reduced from 70 to 65 mph, perhaps
30,000 lives would be saved annually. Isn't that worthwhile?

If speed killed, nobody would ever survive an auto race.

What kills is speed that is excessive for a given set of circumstances, and
that cannot easily be addressed by posted speed limits alone. *Some
jurisdictions with "reasonable and prudent" speed laws recognize this.

Yep, it doesn't matter how fast you miss things. It's hitting things
that hurt. Don't hit things.