Simply because I would like to live. And people that speed just to speed are endangering others’ for no reason besides their own pleasure for driving which can be enjoyed on racetracks. I drive out of necessity, and I hate sharing the road with speed freaks. I do so begrudgingly, but I’m not getting into unsafe situations just to appease them.
Typical SD reply. If it’s one thing, it must be all. Did I saw anything about red lights? Did anyone here?
He IS the arbiter, not me. He is demanding All Must Obey the speed limit (a law) while himself not apparently obeying the “keep right except to pass” and “don’t impede flow of traffic” (also laws), as well as “Don’t Be A Jerk” (there oughta be a law).
I do live and let live. I don’t care how fast you drive, as long as it’s not something ridiculous like 100 mph. I speed all the time, and I do get annoyed when somebody is going only one mph faster than the guy he is passing.
But I don’t tailgate him to teach him a lesson. That would make me an asshole. Because AnthonyElite is right: passing too slowly is annoying, but tailgating somebody is putting lives in danger.
Besides, I wasn’t addressing the merits of the argument, I was just pointing out that we have one guy obeying the law, and another guy saying it’s up to him how fast he wants to go, and the second guy is accusing the first guy of being the self-appointed arbiter of traffic laws. It’s ridiculous.
The people posting about left lane laws are not reading them. I didn’t check all 50 states, but I checked several of them where there were links to the laws, and they all said something to the effect of “except when passing another vehicle.”
If you don’t move back into the right lane after passing, then you’re in the wrong. And if you zip into the left lane to pass so abruptly that an overtaking car has to slam on his brakes, then you’re in the wrong. But AE said he didn’t do either of those things.
Given that, IMO it’s the guys who tailgate him who are assholes. I wouldn’t want to be behind him, but I wouldn’t tailgate him.
What is the peril you see in pulling back into the slower lane?
Your scenario doesn’t quite match what you have been arguing. So, if you are going 25 mph faster than the guy you are passing you should be safe to pull back over into the right lane in approximately 10 seconds. Yes, you should let the guy doing 35 mph faster than you get by so he can get past you in about 8 seconds. How would you feel if that guy doing 40 pulled to the middle and wouldn’t let you pass? Now lets say the guy is going 64.95 an you are going 65.12 it will take you quite some time to get past. Here is where it is courteous for you to find that “go faster” pedal and maybe speed up to 70 for a few seconds to let the other guy past.
You stated earlier that speed limits are a safety factor set by engineers. Did they re-engineer the roads when they changed from the federally mandated 55 to 70 overnight? Are all cars equal in performance?
Are you a fool? The peril is that if I jerk back into the right lane to allow the speed demon to pass I will be entering behind the vehicle in the right lane at an unsafe distance. If the person in the right lane ahead of me so much as sneezes and taps the breaks I might rear-end them…and for what? To allow you to cruise on by? No thanks. Observe safe speeds, please, I do actually care and don’t want anyone to die as upset as it might make me sometimes. But don’t put everyone in peril by tailgating. Observing a safe distance from the vehicle is safe no matter what. You cannot drive through me, you cannot induce me to drive faster, so save lives and stay off my bumper. I’ll get over just as soon as I have good clearance of the vehicle to my right. And in the event that the vehicle speeds up I will assess the situation and decide if it merits speeding up to pass an unsafe driver (usually not the case) or dropping my speed to fall back behind them (annoying as it may be).
Speed limits are often arbitrary. In the days of the national 55 mph limit, people like you, doing 65, were called “speed freaks” and “unsafe”. Everything you are saying now, about people passing you on the freeway, was said back then about people driving like you do now. So by their standards, you are the dangerous one.
Why are you driving so dangerously now? What makes you think you are driving safely? Get off the road, you reckless demon!
You were doing great until that last paragraph. I agree the courteous thing to do is to speed up for a few seconds. Courteous, but not mandatory.
But no, they didn’t re-engineer the roads. Which means that the 70 limit is probably too fast for them already. Which means you’re on even shakier ground if you think it’s your god-given right to exceed it.
And performance isn’t the issue. In my informal survey, the performance of the car is often inversely proportional to the skill of the driver.
Since I’m the one that used the term “self-appointed arbiter”, show me where I said it was up to me how fast I wanted to go.
That’s right - I never did!
Oops. I was addressing the Elite tony, not Mr. Sinclair.
LOL, talk about a typical SD response!
No, you didn’t use those exact words. Your exact words were, “55, 65, 35-they’re compromise values, more often set by politicians than traffic engineers.”
Exactly who do you think is stupid enough to think that the rest of that thought was, “…and that’s why I always observe the speed limit.”?
That’s MR. Mr. Sinclair to you.
Well, yes I am actually.
The truth is that I typically drive like a grandpa. I have a high performance car and I rarely go much over 5 mph faster than the posted limit. The exceptions are areas where I’m familiar with the traffic patterns… such as the highway I take to work. The posted limit is 55 but nobody drives under 60. 65-70 is the norm and I’ve driven on it for 25 years at that speed without a ticket… even past several cops with their radar guns pointed at me.
The other time is when someone is trying to pass me. I have no problem speeding up to get past the person I’m passing until I can safely get back over into the right lane. This is the only issue I have with your posts.
And to Tony… I would disagree. Many if the interstates were designed years before the 55 limit which was for gas saving purposes only. They simply brought the limits back to what they were intended, and most are designed for much faster than that (how is a flat straight stretch of road more dangerous at 70 than 60?)
I don’t feel it is a right, and there’s certainly no god involved. But i want to drive quicker than you and I’m willing to risk a ticket.
And some of you have said that (by association) i’m a menace, a danger to society and all who spend time on the freeway. But you are WRONG. I’m a very courteous and conscientious driver who actually preaches safety FIRST. Speed and speed limits are only tangentially related to safety. Conversely, how can you say you are being “safe” when you choose to impede traffic or drive *idealistically *instead of working in the real (traffic) world. Being safe encompasses reading the entire traffic situation, 360 degree awareness at all times, predicting possible outcomes and executing the required action to keep all things running smoothly and safely. You can’t boil such a complex situation as driving in traffic to “driving speed limit” = “safe”.
I bet you, AnthonyElite, think you are a safe driver (and you probably are) when you compare yourself to the other drivers you encounter. And I know that I am safer than most everyone else on the road by the same reasoning.
My apologies, Mr. Mr Sinclair. 
You did not use an emoticon.
You did not use an emoticon.
You did not use an emoticon.
You did not use an emoticon.
Are you being a **** or being funny???
We need to know…
And per SDMB rules, I will take the worst possible interpenetration and pit you and use my superior word skills to make you look the fool, yes I will.
The horror.
The horror.
The horror.
The horror.
:smack: ← Place into the post where ever you think best.
And many were designed long before that. The modern interstate highway system was built in the 50’s, and the original limits were usually 60. They were raised to 70 in the 1960’s by public demand, before the gas-saving considerations dropped them back again.
Do you want to carry both sides of this discussion? I could just bow out, and let you say my side, too. Would be more efficient.
I was referring to Mr. AnthonyElite’s posts:
My comment addressed that those limits are not always “imposed by a group of engineers”. They are often, in the case most notably of the national 55 mph limit, imposed arbitrarily by politicians. So his point that the limits are the inherent “safe” speed is in fact not necessarily correct. Why does the speed limit on I-10 go from 75 in Arizona to 70 as soon as you cross the border at Blythe? Has the terrain changed? Is the road construction (of a nationally funded highway) less safe in CA? No, CA just decided they wanted the slower speed (the cynic in me says so they can get ticket money. I once crossed the border in my Cuda, and as soon as I got past the inspection station, a CHP Mustang started pacing me, just itching for me to speed. But I never did. Poor guy must have been confused, just like you are.).
Interstate highways are capable of supporting safe traffic flow at greater speeds than the current limits. Speed by itself is not the danger. So his contention that following the limit is safe, whereas exceeding it (even by 5 mph) becomes immediately unsafe (like it is some binary condition) is not correct.
And since you asked nicely, I actually DO obey the speed limits. Blows your mind, dunnit? Why? Because they ARE the law. The limits may be arbitrary, but the penalties are most assuredly absolute.
And while we are on the subject, this talk of “saving ten minutes” by driving faster is a crappy misdirection. I used to drive regularly from Phoenix to LA, a distance of appx 400 miles. At the 55 mph limit, it took about 8 hours. At 70-75 it takes 6. That’s two hours. Not at all an insignificant amount of time. And at 55 the desert is BOOOORING. I would love it if the limit was 80-90, but in the mean time, I will still follow the limit.
I don’t think anybody cares about you risking a ticket. I can’t speak for anybody else, but I’ve tried to make it clear that you’re welcome to speed if you want to, and that I hate drivers who crawl past the car they are passing.
But if you (general you) tailgate someone to make him move over, you’re not just risking a ticket, you’re risking lives. If anybody reading this doesn’t do that, great, I’m not talking to you. But don’t pretend that such people aren’t common. I’ve had many guys tailgate me when they can clearly see that I’m completely boxed in, but they seem to think that if I’m on the next guy’s bumper, that will somehow help the situation.
I doubt that you’re qualified to evaluate highway engineering, but assuming you are, what you just said makes perfect sense. But it has nothing to do with claiming that a guy who is following state and federal law is using his own self-appointed standard. Why you can’t see this is beyond me.
No, it isn’t. The vast, vast majority of cars are making short hops to work or the store or something. The distance is usually under 30 miles. The difference between going 55 and 70 for 30 miles is under 12 minutes. But of course, during rush hour there are a lot of slowdowns, so you probably end up saving less than five minutes if you go 70 every chance you get.
And you’re right, Mr. Mr. Tony. I too, get frustrated by those ne’er-do-wells who tailgate. I also do what i can to see them coming **before **they are on my ass and make room **before **they make contact. Or I, at least, get over as soon as i (safely) can.
From the other perspective… I try to flash my lights to ask to pass. When i get ignored, i tighten-up a little bit to remind them that i want to pass. Then they slow down to make me pay for my rudeness. I’m even closer to their butts now, so i slow down more, and now they see no urgency in letting me by. What’s a boy to do? If slower drivers would simply let the quicker drivers get on down the road, i think we’d all be a lot happier.
And if i thought patience was the key, I’d be more patient. But it’s dudes like that self-righteous EliteAnthony who set the bar where it is, and i have little expectation that anyone WANTS to move out of the way of the quicker driver.