Joe Curry wrote:
> It is not a "God Given Right" to exceed the speed limit. On that I agree,
>But neither is it a "God Given right" to take it upon oneself to control
> traffic by driving the speed limit in the fast lane and expecting everyone
>behind you to slow down to comply.
That's a fair point. And I don't want to suggest that *I* hold any moral or
ethical high ground, since I don't drive particularly slow when it's safe to
do so. I think most speed limits are spurious and misguided. I probably will
keep those thoughts to myself if I'm pulled over for speeding, though. <g>
And it's neither safer nor rightous to poke along in the left lane on an open
highway when the popular (or legal) rule is that slower traffic should stay
right. Some might argue that they poke along out of a moral effort to help
other drivers obey the law, or a more folksey approach like "if 70 is good
enough for me..." but from a pragmatic point of view it likely reduces safety
by causing faster drivers to veer around slow left lane drivers. So it
would fail a more pragmatic test for "greatest good" at the least.
But then consider this exception. I drive 20mph in the left lane (residential,
two lanes each way) through the school zone on my morning commute --
regardless of tailgating drivers behind me. I often point out the sign which
identifies where the school zone ends (which I'd called DoT to request,
though I'm to cynical to believe was installed at my request) as part of my own
effort to educate other drivers. Oddly many motorists drive slowly past
the private school on top of the hill, then bolt through the light at the
public middle school. I belive this is due to ignorance, not class warfare. <g>
And also that the cop car often parks in front of the private school, and most
people think little about other people's well-being but a lot about the
cost of a ticket. (oops, ranting again ;-)
> Yesterday, I witnessed a late model rice burner piloted by a youngster with
>hat on backwards driving about 60 in the fast lane (75 mph speed limit).
> I thought the semi coming up behind him was going to abbreviate the car
>before he finally took the hint and moved over.
>
> Maybe we should lobby the Drivers' Education schools and licensing agencies
>to make sure the people are aware of this issue!
Joe, all great points. My underlying rant is that many people seem to believe
that all-out fast driving in the left lane is appropriate regardless of
conditions or context, and this simply isn't the case. Aside from a universal
frustration with pokey left lane hogs, most of us are probably more careful
drivers than the average driver, not just because we're trying to protect our
car but because we're such great people.
--
Steven Newell
Denver, CO
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe triumphs
///
|