I have what my parents call a heavy foot.
From my perspective, I just can't help it. I live quite a distance from work, and my family. Driving slow? I'd fall asleep. I did well on my SATs, I cruised through both high school, and later college.
Frankly, 55 miles per hour on dry straight roads is too slow for the processing speed of my own gray matter.
As a result of all this, I get noticed by the patrolmen and patrolwomen of our fine nation's highways and byways. Now, it's not that I mind drawing attention, I just wish it weren't in a negative way. I've been pulled over for several "speeding" violations recently, and I've turned to the interblag to share my exceptions.
The first fallacy of a speeding violation is the speed limit. Every road in the nation has at least one speed limit, generally only the upper bound is posted in a very "You shall not exceed!" type of way. These speed limits, these supposed cannonical rules of the road, are at best archaic in their definition and at their worst a farce.
- 85% Rule: Speed limits are theoretically supposed to be the speed at which 85% of traffic travels at or below. Naturally, 15% of traffic will be moving at greater than the speed limit by its definition, this is why many states have a 5 to 10 mph tolerance over highway speed limits.
- This rule is laughable. Here's an experiment for, say, New Jersey. Drive the speed limit in the middle lane. Have your passenger keep a running count of cars that pass you and cars you pass. The results should be transparent.
- Speed limits are still around from decades ago.
- Roads are constructed out of better materials. Tire technology, both in material and structural design, have improved dramatically. Braking capabilities? I think they're better now than in the seventies.
- The population is getting smarter. Think of it as evolution of the herd, only instead of getting faster physically, we're getting faster mentally.
- The smarter you are, the quicker you can process information. This is important when driving, as making decisions faster can allow you to drive far more safely.
That also settles the wreckless argument: when you are smart enough to observe the totality of your environment and take everything into account you will notice patterns. You will make logical predictions. You will avoid more accidents the smarter you are. This also allows someone to drive faster than another. I have never been involved in a collission with another car, and I'm smart enough to judge accurately what a safe velocity is for given road surface and visibility conditions. If I happen to be traveling 15 or 20 mph above a sign on the side of the road while on a drive, why not let me be?