"E.S. Rosenberg" <esr+linux...@g.jct.ac.il> writes: > European lawmakers when talking about pollution and efficiency > generally want to lower maximum speeds since it entails less pollution > and more fuel efficiency...
Let's say, for the sake of the argument, that all cars in France are tuned to 100km/h as the most economical speed. The highway speed limit in France is, IIRC, 130km/h. This basically means that unless there is a problem (accident, poor visibility, rain, whatever) everybody is *supposed* to drive at 130km/h on highways. Driving too slow is a violation in every jurisdiction I know. [Well, the French used to drive a lot faster, I thin they increased the fines now...] So you are supposed to drive on a highway faster than your optimal speed. How can you make people drive at the optimal speed? Two solutions: lower the speed limit (and reap more fines, maybe, at the expense of a lot more time being wasted on the roads if your speed is reduced by 20-30%, and bias towards older, actually more polluting cars), or improve aerodynamics of cars so that their optimum is closer to the limit. Hmmm... A dilemma... Now, consider the same situation, same cars, but your current speed limit is 100 or 110 km/h... There are reasons why, despite the screams from various influential, well-meaning but not very deeply thinking quarters, our highway speed limits have risen from 90 to 100-110 in many cases. -- Oleg Goldshmidt | p...@goldshmidt.org _______________________________________________ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
