Reflections wrote: Not downplaying your points but jet pilots don't have to worry about hitting an animal 3/4 the size of some cars, moose in northern Ontario ring a bell. I do agree with the fact that the human brain is capable of much more then what we use it for, but those pilots you mentioned are better then average physically and mentally are they not.
I don't disagree, with the logic, and physically they might be in better condition than you or I (in order to be able to not DIE when they pull 9g turns), but mentally, there is really no difference between one person and the next. The brain is CAPABLE, we just lack the training to handle those speeds.
There are obstacles in the sky for a fighter pilot though, large birds, missiles, choppers, other fighters, the enemy, etc. But I'm just being facetious now.
But squishy if you want to talk about "natural" abilities then based on your argument, any speed above 15km/h is too fast for the average person's skills.
Our brains learn. We learn quickly. That's what makes us powerful as a species. We adapt quickly. We don't need to change physiologically because we have all the mental tools and range to adapt to nearly every condition we are faced with. As a result of this, a person who spends all their time walking at 1km/h, will be a little out of their element running at 15km/h. Likewise, the more time you spend doing 1900km/h, the more adept you will be at handling and processing information at that speed. Obviously there is a little variance from person to person (which is why we have good and bad racing drivers) but the argument against speeding is DEFINITELY not one of biology or physiology.
If theere was no speed limit, there would be issues as a result of people driving a marked departure from the normal, whether the normal was 50 or 250. The issue here is that everyone drives the speed limit, making it the normal, and they think its BECAUSE that is a safe speed. The reality, IMO is that it is a safe speed because its the norm, not the other way around. I'm sorry if my explanation seemed a bit confusing.
So to summarize, I agree that driving at a different rate of speed, whether it be faster or slower, than the normal is dangerous (obvious reasons), but I disagree that the speed in and of itself is a hazard.
I guess some of it would depend on the car and driver too, but in the numerous times I've driven that fast, it hasn't been as blurry as everyone makes it out to be. I've shaken a steering wheel at 245km/h to see what would happen and guess what? Not a whole lot happened. The car moved like it would if you shook the wheel at 120. Kind of anti-climatic. However, this was always in cars with nice wide wheels, low stances and a pretty solid suspension setup, so it might be different in something with narrower than 255 series rear tires... who knows.