Picture this. You're driving on the freeway. It is still early. You're on your way to work or school and you get flashed by someone behind you. The first thing you think of is that old scary story you heard as a child, where the woman was being followed by some crazy pickup truck driver flashing his high beams. However, this person behind you is not trying to save you from uncertain torture. He wants one thing...for you to move. He, or she, wants you to get out of the way, so he or she can speed.
I am tired of being yelled at, or flipped off for doing the right thing. How fast is fast enough? I am not talking about going 65mph on the dot no matter. I am talking about driving at a safe speed. I commute 960 miles a week. That's a long time on the freeway. I see a lot of crazy things on the road. I've seen people hanging out of passanger side windows, I guess I should be glad it wasn't the driver. I've been flipped off for going 75mph in a 70 zone because they want to go faster. I've had people shake their heads at me when I'm going 10 over the speed limit becasue I'm hindering them in some way, and they had to go around. I just can't believe it.
What is it going to take to make the roads safe? CHP isn't much help because they often pass me when I'm speeding, and I know they can't all be going to an emergency. I'm guilty of it to. We all are. In order for us to survive on the freeway, we must speed to compete and stay alive. I speed too. However, I do have my limit. I rarely go over 5mph over the speed limit...and I'm in the slow lane. You have to drive in the slow lane just to go the speed limit. I for one, am fed up.
What can we do? Obviously leading by example is getting us nowhere. There are accidents everyday on our roads. What is it going to take to make people see? I wonder how many people are aware that if you are in an accident and you are driving at excessive speeds and someone dies, you can be guilty of manslaughter. You could go to jail just because you were speeding. Is it really worth it? Is it really worth your life? Is it worth someone else's life so you can get there a few minutes early?
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I'm not going to lie, I speed a minimum of 10 over on the interstate/other highways, but I'm never rude about it. And if I have to slow down, I will, it doesn't matter much to me, but I'd rather get where I'm going as fast as possible (which isnt very fast in my car, it's pretty old). The only slow drivers that annoy me are those that go, say, 50 in a 70, because in my opinion, if your car can't go at least the posted speed limit or a little under, then you should find an alternate route.
I also understand your point about rude/stupid people on the road, but you can get that going at any speed, 30, 40, in a parking lot, whatever. I think that there are safe speeds, but I don't think that going over the speed limit will necessarily kill someone, as long as whoever is behind the wheel knows what they are doing. I've had a near-miss or two on a rural road, which has taught me to slow down a bit, especially on deserted roads where alot of people have a tendency to go faster. But once again it's the maturity and skill level of the driver that determines how fast is a "safe speed."