According to this, 10% of rigs on the road are driven by cadavers.
78 Replies to “What Would We Do Without Computer Models?”
Hey expert medical researchers! The hour you spent studying complex computer models is the hour Danny Williams spent flying to get heart surgery.
Realistically though your odds of dying in an accident over an average lifetime of driving is 1-2%. Instead of an hour of driving reducing *your* lifespan by 20 minutes, you could think of it as you and 97 other people on the road reducing that jerk who cut you off’s life span by 32 hours and 40 minutes.
Posted by: Ratt at February 3, 2010 9:45 AM
There is a reason we do not put legs on computers. If you tell them to walk off a cliff, you are soon out an expensive email machine.
What’s with the political left and car envy? If speed kills, then anybody traveling on plane should die. In Manitoba many lives could have been saved if only some deadly sections of so called highways would be twined, multi-leveled intersection erected (common in neighboring North Dakota) and the roads build to the quality that the surface does not hive after one winter. Of course, if that would happen there would be much less money for social programs including the biggest of them all: universal health care.
For the last few years I’ve been driving about 60 kms to work one way. That totals 30,000 kms just to work. The daily odds add up another 5-7,000.
Since coming to Canada 10 years ago I’ve driven about 350,000 kms, which is consistent with the observation above.
So there are drivers and driver.
Also if I drive my beater 2005 Honda Accord 4 cyl at 100 km/h on the highway, it uses 6.9-7 l/100 km. Same vehicle driven at 110 km/h will spend 7.8 l/100 km which is almost 10% more.
The old beater Nissan Maxima I had before, driven at 100 would use 8 l/100 km, while at 110 it would to up to 10. That’s 20% right there.
As I am a contractor, I do accounting of all things material and mileage as well as amount of fuel bought is in the accounting program. This is not just a fantasy I want to pass for reality.
But I do have a co-worker who drives Chevy truck and says that her gas bill is the same as when she drove Corolla. Reality is different among people.
Good for you, but I would still drive at 100 in the right lane to save a few bucks on gas.
~Aaron
Stay in Ontario.
We don’t need more dolts here making it dangerous to merge onto the highway by driving below the speed limit.
Oz, your interpretation of speed limit contradicts the law and you don’t even understand. How much is 2+2?
I figure by driving faster, you get to your destination faster, thus you are on the road less time to be killed. Oh, and I think every Vancouver driver should have to drive in Toronto, and vise versa. The former to learn how it should work, the latter to show how good you actually have it.
Asked about this study an aspiring “Environmental Correspondent” said “I’m a 70/70 split on this one”
Journalism . . because math & science course are tough
For more then a decade I’ve been a Toyota loyalist, however this is funny.
Aaron, there are places, not in Canada, where there are speed minimums because they recognize the danger that driving below the limit represents.
Maybe your father can explain it to you.
Driving slow when most others are driving faster is dangerous.
Having a column of cars bunched up behind a slow driver in the right lane while vehicles are coming onto a highway from ramps is dangerous.
When road accidents occur because of speed, they occur most often because of the disparity of speed between vehicles going the same direction.
Should the government have to write new laws dealing with people who are on the cutting-edge-of-stupid while imagining they are clever driving slow just because there is no posted legal minimum?
I’ve been driving rigs for 16 years.
I probably died before I was conceived.
Aaron in Alberta you drive 120 in the slow lane. If you want to go 90 take the scenic routes. Or the bus. You remind me of an old fart in my area. He drives a Lincoln..at 30 km/hr. When he hits a school zone or side street he slows to 15.
k stricker, you bring up a good point. So why is it my stepson who drove the 401 regularly for 8 years would prefer to never see it again calling the QEII from Edmonton to Calgary a “sunday drive”.
Aaron, lets say you drive from Calgary to Edmonton, ~300km’s. @ 100kph you get there in 3 hours, at 120 your there in 2.5 hours.
how many litres of gas do you need to save for the half hour of your life you’ve lost forever? Even if you burned $10 less gas (more like $2 or $3) your valuing your free time @ $20/hour (really 5 or 6 $/hour), I personally value my own time at a much higher rate but all the power to you.
And of course this begs the question what do you do when the speed limit is 40kph? the more fuel efficient thing to do would be keep your car @ 90-100kph…
I interpreted the findings of their “complex computer model” another way:
If speeding results in more crashes then you should speed up not slow down. By speeding up you get to your destination quicker thus spending less time on the road and thereby reduce the odds of being hit by someone else! 🙂
I enjoy riding my bicycle to work, but I bet that I’m dying faster riding compared to if I drove. Especially if I get hit by a car. But not if I don’t.
Sylvanguy
Ah, you must have voted for Obama or Franklin last year.
Posted by: Indiana Homez at February 3, 2010 1:41 PM
Ok, now that right there? That’s funny!
I am thinking that Al had the greater percentage of the “life challenged” individuals vote, while Barry got a larger percentage of the “oh, look! A cow” electorate.
> Driving slow when most others are driving faster is dangerous.
They are committing an offense and I am not.
I thought that the conservatives were not in favour of picking and choosing the laws to follow versus laws to ignore.
@duffman: Your life does not end after one trip (hopefully). I am saving at least $150 a year by obeying the speed limit and feel terrific from not being stressed by brake lights right in front of me all the time. If I was speeding 10 over, I’d saved 2.5 minutes a trip, totaling 21 hours a year, which I can’t bill anyway.
Yeah I’m another rig-driver (X it seems now).
Michigan has an assinine policy on their super-slabs. Speed limit 65 for cars and 55 for trucks. What a zoo!
A doctor buddy commented on exercising to extend life. Run/exercise an hour/day extends life expectancy 10 years but condemns you to spend 15 years of your life running/exercising. He elects to extend his life-style by 5 years by…being normal.
Fuel consumption.
A few years back the EUROS did an experiment using two identical cars (both past any breakin period). Both experienced rally drivers. They both travelled the same 5,000 km course….a combination or urban and highway. One driver abidded by speed limits, etc. the other had his car marked “carte blanche” subject to no regs unless involved in a crash.
Both drivers finished the course un-scathed. The one car showed negligable tire, engine and brake wear. The speed demon finished 1/2 hour sooner with worn-out tires, worn-out brakes, burned twice the fuel and detectable engine wear. One car had no emergency braking, the other constant.
I believe I will take the extra 1/2 and see something other than the white line.
Funny thing about these fuel-saving cruise controls. I have yet to encounter one I can’t beat manually for fuel economy. The owner at one place was on my case constantly because I (according to the computer) seldom used cruise….yet had the lowest fuel consumption in his fleet.
Urban streets(especially small towns) are mine fields….people wandering around like geese—some with cars.
Speed is less a factor than rapid acceleration for tire wear and fuel consumption.
I recall transiting Montana with daylight speed limit (reasonable and prudent) with an empty diesel pickup. The fuel guage went faster than the speedo.
Driving Calgary to Edmonton will take you three hours but flying there will still get you a half hour of highway driving plus your hour security check/cavity search.
Driving shortens my life but only if I’m in the passenger seat and wifey at the wheel. Just kidding.
Yes dear, I’ll be quiet now.
Aaron the British Racing Champion, a couple of questions: first off, what kind of racing? Touring Cars? Rally Cars? Are you the Stig and can we see a signed photograph as proof that you are who you say you are.
As for an hour in a car taking 20 minutes off a person’s life: I’m almost 30 now and if my calculations are correct, I’ll be dead before I’m 35 cause I’ve spent years of my life driving places and dont intend to stop now. I drive safe, I have been in one accident and been hit several times while in a car, and I know for a fact that the worst drivers are the ones who freeze up when faced with an emergency. They are the ones taking 20 minutes out of our lives! Studies like this prove nothing and only apply to idiots who cant drive anyway. Anyone who doesnt enjoy driving just for the sheer joy of sitting behind a wheel and knowing that you have a tentative control over a ton or so of steel (and understand that this fact MUST be respected at all times) should never be given a license.
All Prius and Smart Car owners would then be off my road and I could take my baby for a spin a little more often.
Sure Irene. 1978 Formula Ford. Don’t know what a Stig is. Its on the net. You can get a message to me at info@moneytalks.net if you need proof.
The fact that he denies he’s the Stig proves he’s the Stig! The Stig is commenting on Kate’s blog!
and some of the “BULL” in here is hilarious
fact it caused me to go and drive my 4tonne 4X4 sooooo fast that my tank filled up and my watch went backwards:-)))))
“So why is it my stepson who drove the 401 regularly for 8 years would prefer to never see it again calling the QEII from Edmonton to Calgary a “sunday drive””.
Admittedly I spend most of my time on the 401 between Kingston->Cornwall. It really isn’t any fun being on the 401 anywhere near Toronto. Of course, the speed limit is the same.
So, “drunk driving” means having a stiff drink before he takes the wheel…
Hey expert medical researchers! The hour you spent studying complex computer models is the hour Danny Williams spent flying to get heart surgery.
Realistically though your odds of dying in an accident over an average lifetime of driving is 1-2%. Instead of an hour of driving reducing *your* lifespan by 20 minutes, you could think of it as you and 97 other people on the road reducing that jerk who cut you off’s life span by 32 hours and 40 minutes.
Posted by: Ratt at February 3, 2010 9:45 AM
There is a reason we do not put legs on computers. If you tell them to walk off a cliff, you are soon out an expensive email machine.
What’s with the political left and car envy? If speed kills, then anybody traveling on plane should die. In Manitoba many lives could have been saved if only some deadly sections of so called highways would be twined, multi-leveled intersection erected (common in neighboring North Dakota) and the roads build to the quality that the surface does not hive after one winter. Of course, if that would happen there would be much less money for social programs including the biggest of them all: universal health care.
For the last few years I’ve been driving about 60 kms to work one way. That totals 30,000 kms just to work. The daily odds add up another 5-7,000.
Since coming to Canada 10 years ago I’ve driven about 350,000 kms, which is consistent with the observation above.
So there are drivers and driver.
Also if I drive my beater 2005 Honda Accord 4 cyl at 100 km/h on the highway, it uses 6.9-7 l/100 km. Same vehicle driven at 110 km/h will spend 7.8 l/100 km which is almost 10% more.
The old beater Nissan Maxima I had before, driven at 100 would use 8 l/100 km, while at 110 it would to up to 10. That’s 20% right there.
As I am a contractor, I do accounting of all things material and mileage as well as amount of fuel bought is in the accounting program. This is not just a fantasy I want to pass for reality.
But I do have a co-worker who drives Chevy truck and says that her gas bill is the same as when she drove Corolla. Reality is different among people.
Good for you, but I would still drive at 100 in the right lane to save a few bucks on gas.
~Aaron
Stay in Ontario.
We don’t need more dolts here making it dangerous to merge onto the highway by driving below the speed limit.
Oz, your interpretation of speed limit contradicts the law and you don’t even understand. How much is 2+2?
I figure by driving faster, you get to your destination faster, thus you are on the road less time to be killed. Oh, and I think every Vancouver driver should have to drive in Toronto, and vise versa. The former to learn how it should work, the latter to show how good you actually have it.
Asked about this study an aspiring “Environmental Correspondent” said “I’m a 70/70 split on this one”
Journalism . . because math & science course are tough
For more then a decade I’ve been a Toyota loyalist, however this is funny.
Aaron, there are places, not in Canada, where there are speed minimums because they recognize the danger that driving below the limit represents.
Maybe your father can explain it to you.
Driving slow when most others are driving faster is dangerous.
Having a column of cars bunched up behind a slow driver in the right lane while vehicles are coming onto a highway from ramps is dangerous.
When road accidents occur because of speed, they occur most often because of the disparity of speed between vehicles going the same direction.
Should the government have to write new laws dealing with people who are on the cutting-edge-of-stupid while imagining they are clever driving slow just because there is no posted legal minimum?
I’ve been driving rigs for 16 years.
I probably died before I was conceived.
Aaron in Alberta you drive 120 in the slow lane. If you want to go 90 take the scenic routes. Or the bus. You remind me of an old fart in my area. He drives a Lincoln..at 30 km/hr. When he hits a school zone or side street he slows to 15.
k stricker, you bring up a good point. So why is it my stepson who drove the 401 regularly for 8 years would prefer to never see it again calling the QEII from Edmonton to Calgary a “sunday drive”.
Aaron, lets say you drive from Calgary to Edmonton, ~300km’s. @ 100kph you get there in 3 hours, at 120 your there in 2.5 hours.
how many litres of gas do you need to save for the half hour of your life you’ve lost forever? Even if you burned $10 less gas (more like $2 or $3) your valuing your free time @ $20/hour (really 5 or 6 $/hour), I personally value my own time at a much higher rate but all the power to you.
And of course this begs the question what do you do when the speed limit is 40kph? the more fuel efficient thing to do would be keep your car @ 90-100kph…
I interpreted the findings of their “complex computer model” another way:
If speeding results in more crashes then you should speed up not slow down. By speeding up you get to your destination quicker thus spending less time on the road and thereby reduce the odds of being hit by someone else! 🙂
I enjoy riding my bicycle to work, but I bet that I’m dying faster riding compared to if I drove. Especially if I get hit by a car. But not if I don’t.
Sylvanguy
Ah, you must have voted for Obama or Franklin last year.
Posted by: Indiana Homez at February 3, 2010 1:41 PM
Ok, now that right there? That’s funny!
I am thinking that Al had the greater percentage of the “life challenged” individuals vote, while Barry got a larger percentage of the “oh, look! A cow” electorate.
> Driving slow when most others are driving faster is dangerous.
They are committing an offense and I am not.
I thought that the conservatives were not in favour of picking and choosing the laws to follow versus laws to ignore.
@duffman: Your life does not end after one trip (hopefully). I am saving at least $150 a year by obeying the speed limit and feel terrific from not being stressed by brake lights right in front of me all the time. If I was speeding 10 over, I’d saved 2.5 minutes a trip, totaling 21 hours a year, which I can’t bill anyway.
Yeah I’m another rig-driver (X it seems now).
Michigan has an assinine policy on their super-slabs. Speed limit 65 for cars and 55 for trucks. What a zoo!
A doctor buddy commented on exercising to extend life. Run/exercise an hour/day extends life expectancy 10 years but condemns you to spend 15 years of your life running/exercising. He elects to extend his life-style by 5 years by…being normal.
Fuel consumption.
A few years back the EUROS did an experiment using two identical cars (both past any breakin period). Both experienced rally drivers. They both travelled the same 5,000 km course….a combination or urban and highway. One driver abidded by speed limits, etc. the other had his car marked “carte blanche” subject to no regs unless involved in a crash.
Both drivers finished the course un-scathed. The one car showed negligable tire, engine and brake wear. The speed demon finished 1/2 hour sooner with worn-out tires, worn-out brakes, burned twice the fuel and detectable engine wear. One car had no emergency braking, the other constant.
I believe I will take the extra 1/2 and see something other than the white line.
Funny thing about these fuel-saving cruise controls. I have yet to encounter one I can’t beat manually for fuel economy. The owner at one place was on my case constantly because I (according to the computer) seldom used cruise….yet had the lowest fuel consumption in his fleet.
Urban streets(especially small towns) are mine fields….people wandering around like geese—some with cars.
Speed is less a factor than rapid acceleration for tire wear and fuel consumption.
I recall transiting Montana with daylight speed limit (reasonable and prudent) with an empty diesel pickup. The fuel guage went faster than the speedo.
Driving Calgary to Edmonton will take you three hours but flying there will still get you a half hour of highway driving plus your hour security check/cavity search.
Driving shortens my life but only if I’m in the passenger seat and wifey at the wheel. Just kidding.
Yes dear, I’ll be quiet now.
Aaron the British Racing Champion, a couple of questions: first off, what kind of racing? Touring Cars? Rally Cars? Are you the Stig and can we see a signed photograph as proof that you are who you say you are.
As for an hour in a car taking 20 minutes off a person’s life: I’m almost 30 now and if my calculations are correct, I’ll be dead before I’m 35 cause I’ve spent years of my life driving places and dont intend to stop now. I drive safe, I have been in one accident and been hit several times while in a car, and I know for a fact that the worst drivers are the ones who freeze up when faced with an emergency. They are the ones taking 20 minutes out of our lives! Studies like this prove nothing and only apply to idiots who cant drive anyway. Anyone who doesnt enjoy driving just for the sheer joy of sitting behind a wheel and knowing that you have a tentative control over a ton or so of steel (and understand that this fact MUST be respected at all times) should never be given a license.
All Prius and Smart Car owners would then be off my road and I could take my baby for a spin a little more often.
Sure Irene. 1978 Formula Ford. Don’t know what a Stig is. Its on the net. You can get a message to me at info@moneytalks.net if you need proof.
The fact that he denies he’s the Stig proves he’s the Stig! The Stig is commenting on Kate’s blog!
and some of the “BULL” in here is hilarious
fact it caused me to go and drive my 4tonne 4X4 sooooo fast that my tank filled up and my watch went backwards:-)))))
“So why is it my stepson who drove the 401 regularly for 8 years would prefer to never see it again calling the QEII from Edmonton to Calgary a “sunday drive””.
Admittedly I spend most of my time on the 401 between Kingston->Cornwall. It really isn’t any fun being on the 401 anywhere near Toronto. Of course, the speed limit is the same.
So, “drunk driving” means having a stiff drink before he takes the wheel…