Originally Posted by
genec
Beg to differ... I believe how "comfortable" drivers are has a lot to do with their isolation from the road.
Sound proofing systems in cars, along with air conditioning and power steering coupled with good sound systems all work to "remove" the motorist from their environment. There is no feedback to the motorist to tell them they are moving too fast. A glance at the speedometer doesn't mean a thing as the numbers are just numbers.
Where once motorists drove around with windows rolled down and manual steering and were aware of the road and things around them, these days motorists are often only "connected" visually.
This "comfort" makes it easy to push on the gas pedal.
I love my manual steering, power steering gives you the sensation that you need to steer your car straight. However even with my windows down it's extremely hard to tell where sounds are coming from, a siren usually has me looking in all directions until I can see it because I basically only get stereo instead of surround sound.
However I also agree, my manual steering gives me real feedback as to your speed at 75, and on some freeways thats the legal limit, not to mention you can feel when the front end is slipping even the most tiny bit.
I'm also on a car forum (actually we just had a thread posted about a cyclist saying driving is like a drug, oh the fun), and we typically agree that manual steering is better, and wish there was a mix (powered for parking, manual for driving). Of course at the same time, we agree that manual transmissions are better, but that typically just confuses people, however I think it's made me a much better driver being as I can't eat a hamburger, do my hair, and read a newspaper while driving even if someone would pay me to do it. You also learn to anticipate and plan ahead, along with complete focus on driving as opposed to dicking around with things with your free hand.
Originally Posted by
San Rensho
Beg to differ. What makesdrivers feel "comfortable" is how confident they are which is directly related to the type of road they are on. A multilane, divided road inspires confidence (whether that confidence is justified is a completely different matter and is what road designers should look at when they design roads to be driven at a certain speed) and higher speeds. Narrow, one lane roads with oncoming traffic inspire less confidence and hence lower speeds.
I'm going to have to partially disagree with that, it isn't an exact science really, I've seen people do 15 over and 15 under on the same road at the same time of day under the same conditions, I think the largest factor is the driver's style of driving. If they typically speed, it doesn't matter the road, they'll speed. It's probably a factor, but you can't say a specifically designed road will make people slow down, unless there are speed bumps, which as I've said before, solve the issue in a polar opposite manner of what needs to be enforced (larger vehicles need to be slower, not faster).