i hate the Mythbusters' speed camera episode
Posted by MABfan11@reddit | mythbusters | View on Reddit | 4 comments
there is one myth where i feel like Mythbusters blatantly lied to their audience was their speed camera episode, where they compared with Top Gear's results, they even got the same speed camera. except:
- they never reached the speed Top Gear reached (173 mph), even with the Murcielago, which is perfectly capable of reaching the same speed as the TVR. they only reached 120 mph
- they never thought of extending the length to gain more speed, even though Top Gear used a runway and they had used runways before
- and when they finally beat the speed camera, they used a dragster and overshot the speed achieved by Top Gear by so much that there is no point to compare with their results
i'm pretty sure all of this was caused by lawyers who didn't want viewers to break the speed limit and get away with it, but the test wasn't very scientific
sunnygovan@reddit
They didn't lie, they just didn't tell you everything. Same as the breathalyser episode - somehow they forgot to test hyperventilating. I'm OK with that.
TheMcDeal@reddit
Go on...
locuester@reddit
Hyperventilating lowers your BAC as measured by a typical fuel cell or diode catheter machine. Not by much, and not for long, but it could drop you the difference between arrest and no arrest if you’re borderline. I’ve personally seen a max drop of .02. If you’re right at the limit this would drop you enough.
There’s other tricks with the lungs but they all basically run on the hyperventilating premise. Deep breaths ALL the way out and in to clear all gas exchanged air and that last breath in super deep and then immediately on the machine with a hard blow to force it to register the early air from your overfilled lungs. Not too hard tho or you trip the machine and have to repeat.
Once you’re at the station under arrest you’re unlikely to get away with this. The machine (measures much deeper lung air) and the environment (under close observation) there would make it more difficult during the “official” testing that they do.
Source: A very experienced breathalyzer blower. Never used nefariously, simply out of curiosity. For science.
AnonAlcoholic@reddit
Oh, good to know. I'll keep this in mind the next time I get pulled over. .28 will look way better in court than .30.