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Why does everyone drive 10-15 miles above the speed limit?
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Why don’t we raise the speed limit if that’s how fast everyone wants to go?
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Why is traffic enforcement given to very expensive and ineffective police instead of cheaper and more automated traffic cameras?
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Why do we refuse to ever use ANY traffic calming measures? Yes, than you flashing digital sign for telling me I’m going 10 miles above the limit on this incredibly wide and straight and flat road with high curbs and perfect visibility.
It’s a serious confusion I have about how society is supposed to operate because it seems like a complete and total breakdown of logic and sense.
And, yes, I know there’s some thing people did long ago to set the speed limit at some percentile of what people were already traveling at, but that’s obviously a stupid way to do it and we did it anyway. So why?
I don’t speed.
I mean I do, but only if I’m not paying attention. I naturally want to go fast. If there were no cars on the road, I’d be going as fast as I want. During the pandemic, when no one else was on the road and cops weren’t pulling people over, I was getting to work in 30 minutes. Normally it takes no less than 45, and usually more like an hour and a half.
However, I don’t speed because there are other cars on the road.
I’ll drive at the speed limit if I can. I used to drive about 5 mph above the speed limit, but the last time I was doing that, I stopped for a school bus dropping off kids, and the guy behind me didn’t even stop looking at his phone (I assume). And it occurred to me that he was going 5mph faster than he would have been because I let him.
So now I try (again, fighting my nature) to never go above the speed limit. I also never drive closer than 4 seconds to the car in front of me. I also very slowly decrease my speed down to 10 mph below the speed limit if someone is tailgating me.
Prior to the pandemic, people would be annoyed, and they’d aggressively pass me when it was safe to do so. Since the pandemic people just cross the double yellow line into oncoming traffic to pass.
They’ve made it much harder than it used to be to get your license in PA, but it’s still too easy to get and keep your driver’s license. Every driver should have to repeat a driving test every five years.
My wife has health problems, and voluntarily stopped driving about 15 years ago when she noticed she was developing muscle weakness. The only time she’s driven a car since was an early Sunday morning when I took her to the empty high school parking lot and had her drive our civic around so she could just see what it felt like.
My dad drove him and my mom to church on the day he died. He had been having increasing number of car accidents, but no one could stop him from driving. My wife and I refused to ride in a car with him driving. I think the last accident he had was with a light pole in a parking lot because “the sun was in his eyes.”
If his heart had given out on the highway on the way instead of in church, my siblings and I would have had to bury both parents.
It’s not your place to police other drivers and their behavior. Nor is it mine. Slowing down if someone is tailgating pisses everyone off, and going under the speed limit can be just as dangerous as going over. It’s a really easy way to cause a crash.
Drive predictably. If that means going the exact speed limit, fine. But far too often I am on the road with people who think going 25mph in a 45mph on a two lane road is safer.
Yeah, you’re wrong. If someone is tailgating me, I’m going to reduce my speed to minimize the impact.
I’ve been hit. I’ve been hit by people who were tailgating me. When that’s happened it didn’t matter what I did. If I speed up, they speed up. If I slow down, they stay right there. I’ve literally turned on my hazard lights and had people continue to tailgate.
It’s not about policing other drivers. It’s about minimizing the damage they will eventually cause.
Bro you sound like a bad driver.
Elaborate.
That’s what a bad driver would say.