Why don't people obey traffic laws?

I’ve had a couple of pit posts about this, but then I got to thinking that maybe I’m missing something. It can’t just be boiled down to the fact that maybe 1% of the drivers on the road make a conscious effort to drive safely and the rest are just idiots.

Or can it? Why do the vast majority of drivers ignore traffic laws and common sense? As examples, I offer the people who will flat-out run a red light rather than stopping and the people who routinely drive faster than the posted speed limit (these are also the ones who will get 18 inches off your rear bumper and stay there, usually flashing their lights at you to get the hell out of their way).

Why do they do stuff like that? Are they in such an all-fired hurry that they can’t take a few seconds to drive safely? Why couldn’t they just have left 5 minutes earlier so they wouldn’t be rushed? Is it some kind of instinct, like with horses - I have to be at the front of the pack, now?

What do you think?

I think it’s more likely that <1% of the drivers on the road are complete inconsiderate jerks, it’s just that you see way more than 100 cars on your average trip somewhere. The jerks are memorable, the good drivers are a silent majority.

Oh, and if you have a jerk behind you flashing his lights in an effort to get you to move over to the right lane, you better be passing a dense string of cars, because IMHO, you should stay right except to pass. Highways are just safer for everyone that way.

I think Cheesesteak is right; the bad drivers just stand out more in your memory. My question is: why don’t drivers use their turn signals? Seriously, why not? Anybody out there not use them (for some reason other than simple laziness)? Care to explain why? 'Cause I’m stumped.

I see you are in the US, so you will understand my answers.

I routinely speed. No a lot, and not in residential areas, but always when on a highway or in a business district. Why? Here in the US, the speed limit is set to the speed at which the far worse than average drivers paying little attention have few accidents. I, like almost everyone else, think I am better than average. I have excellent vision, I can concentrate for longer than most anyone, I do not use the cell phone, eat etc., I am a good athlete with very good reflexes, and I have excellent spatial perception. I do not tailgate. I have never had an accident, and I have been driving for almost 30 years. If I want to drive from CO to PA, I feel I am actually safer driving faster, because speeding by 7-9 mph significantly reduces the length (time) of a 24 hour drive. (It is less of an issue now that speed limits are more sane.)

I think the old nationwide 55 mph speed limit also taught people to disrespect the speed limit. It was not adopted from a general consensus, and I have never been anywhere where most of the drivers obeyed it. (PA and OH come closest, becaue they were thoroughly patrolled and had high fines.) That speed limit taught many drivers that speed limits were “guidelines”, and not laws. Perhaps, that extends to all traffic infractions.

I don’t know why people run redlights. That kills a lot of people in my town. I think it is just self-centeredness when they race, and inattentiveness in general. I got in an argument just this week with a driver who ran the crossing light at my kids elementary school. He saw the face I made (I did not flip him off.) when he drove in front by me, just downhill from the light. He actually drove back to confront me. I’m guessing many drivers have “issues”.

I think it is a combination of sense of entitlement, a misguided sense of competition (he wins if he gets in front of me), and a misguided sense of being hurried (not realizing that getting through this light means you’ll just wait at the next). Thoughtlessness plays a big role, too - it just never occurs to people to do anything differently, or why what they’re doing is dangerous. I also think a lot of people think they are driving correctly, when they do stupid/dangerous things.

It is actually illegal to cruise in the left lane in CO. You can be, and people have been, ticketed just for this.

I speed, but as has been meantioned the way the police enforce it, there’s no reason not to do 70-75 on the toll ways around here if you’re capable of doing so. I just hate being on the road at all for the most part and just want to get where I’m going. I follow all the other laws as best I can, especially red lights. I can’t stand the idjits who drive on the shoulder because they feel entitled or whatever.

It’s illegal in Texas also to cruise in the left lane. Folks do it anyway. Ya see 'em get ticketed occassionally. I think there’s a lot of arrogance on the part of drivers out there. It’s about what is convenient for them. I’ve seen many drivers lately who can’t get around to using their signal because their on the phone. Does it also seem like the fancier the car, the worse the driver?

I speed on the highway (i stay in the 65-75 range) as the speed limit is universally ignored, and i will give a person going slow in the left 2-3 blinks - as a lot of them will change lanes after that. I agree about the rest of the issues - WHY do they persist to tailgate and speed through residential neighbourhoods? It is a recipe for disaster and is so easily avoidable.

You see, this is what’s so funny about this issue. Everyone who speeds and thinks nothing of it, do you not realize that you’re rationalizing like everyone who does every other illegal/dangerous/stupid thing? You don’t think speeding is dangerous? Have you ever considered why we have speed limits in the first place, (other than as cash cows for local police, but that’s not important right now), instead of everyone just driving any speed they choose?

I speed all the time. I don’t really know why. I’m almost never in a rush, I just like to drive fast. I even have “rules” for my speeding: if the speed limit is 40 or lower, I won’t speed at all; if it’s 55, I usually go 60, sometimes 64; if it’s 70, I go 80.

I ran a red light once, too. I stopped just like I was supposed to but I got confused or something (I have no clue what happened) and I went through like it was just another four way stop. And then I laughed my ass off. I’m glad there wasn’t any cross traffic. :smack: There’s a stop sign (four way stop) in town my mom used to almost always run and then she’d shrug her shoulders and say, “Oh well, I’ll stop twice next time.” It was a frequent thing for that sign to be ignored or unnoticed though, so they attached a blinking red light to it. It should be a light anyway.

I use my turn signal though and I don’t hog the passing lane unless I’m, y’know, passing. I’m not obnoxious (tailgating, flashing lights, etc.), I don’t do things while driving that I should have done at home (make up, flossing, reading the morning paper, etc.), and I’m not competative or anything. I even know how to merge!

So I overtake a guy and as I’m going past he speeds up. Next thing , we are neck and neck, and I look in the mirror and there is a car bearing down on me very, very fast. A few seconds later, and he’s tailgating. A bout thirty seconds later, and he’s started giving me the brights/horn treatment. The guy I was overtaking seems oblivious to this. I wanted him to slow down, so I could slot back in to the slow lane, but he was enclosed in his little coccoon. Now, the thing is, the aggressive moron behind me had already pushed me up to 8 or 9km/h over the speed limit. Anything beyond that, and the radar activated speed cameras kick in, and I get a A$220 fine (and demerit points). I am NOT going to pay that because I am being monstered by some young dickhead. So, I spent about ten kilometres being harrassed by this idiot. My wife was terrified. I was nervous (and very cranky - when he finally passed, I made “pull over you c**t” gestures).

So to all those who say, “you shouldn’t be in the fast lane unless overtaking”, sometimes it is NOT POSSIBLE to do otherwise.

The only thing anyone has defended here is speeding, so clearly that is what is bothering you. I thought I addressed it, but speed limits are set for many reasons. The 55 mph speed limit was not set for safety reasons, but fuel economy. Presumed safety benefits were a bonus. It turned out, in states with large, boring, flat stretches, like CO, that the accident rate went down when the 55 speed limit went was rescinded. I would guess more due to homogenous speeds than anything else.

In my town, the residential speed limit is set city wide to 25 mph. I feel this is reasonable if there are houses nearby, because of children, if nothing else. However, if safety were the sole criteria, then every stretch of every road would be considered for different speed limits. The truth is, the overhead associated with that is greater than the benefit, so a citywide limit is set.

Does someone driving 75 in a 70 zone really annoy you that much? Again, the 70 is set on the lowest common denominator ability and automotive capabilities. There is certainly more than 10% variance in the populations driving ability. Frankly, I would be much more dangerous driving while talking on a cell phone, than driving less than 10% over the speed limit. (IIRC, the accident rate for people on cell phones is comparable to those at 0.08% blood alcohol rate. I don’t do two things simultaneously very well. I believe my accident rate would be more greatly affected than the general populations, so I don’t do it.) To me, you sound more like someone complaining that “they aren’t folllowing the rules”.

I hold that mild speeding, in the 10% range, or even 15% range, is not “illegal/dangerous/stupid”. Ok, technically it is illegal, but so is going 56 in a 55. It is just not possible to set speed limits based on ability; there would be no way to enforce it. I’d like to see a cite that it is “dangerous”. The reason police do not pull you over is that it is not dangerous. They can pull you over for dangerous driving at anytime, even if you are driving under the speed limit. Reckless driving combined with reasoned enforcement of speed limits handles the “dangerous”. Going 60 mph in a 45, or going 50 mph when alcohol impaired, might be dangerous. And if it is stupid, well, that makes 95% of the population stupid, which is, well, stupid.

People don’t obey traffic laws for the same reason they don’t hold open doors for people. It’s simple. :wink:

Door holder here!

:raises hand:

No, you’re correct. Dude, you live in Houston.

Slam on the brakes. If he can’t dodge you, you get a new bumper and a set of quarterpanels for nothing.

If I ever encounter anyone in light traffic crawling up the left lane, I’ll just flash them; if they don’t move over by the time I’ve caught them, I’ll pass them on the right. If he tries to cut me off, that’s what the hard shoulder and my brakes are for.

If the traffic is heavier, I’ll flash my brights at him, just to wake him up. If he doesn’t move over, I’ll drop back a few yards, and wait for a passing opportunity.

Never let anyone push you into going faster unless you want to. However, if there’s someone in your mirrors for a mile, or three people stacked up behind you, you should pull off to the right, even if it means braking and slotting in behind someone. Just because you can’t keep up the pace doesn’t mean you should prevent others from doing so.

Actually “cash cows for local police” is the only reason for speed limits on any exurban highway. The German autobahnen and Italian autostrade are very, very safe roads. The Montana highways had a much lower death/injury rate when they were limited by “reasonable and prudent” - which was usually treated as “85ish”. On a clear, dry day, with a decent driver in a mediocre car, 100 is pretty much as fast as you should go - that should be the “limit”.

My point is not about the speeding; it is about the way people who speed are rationalizing it, like all other bad drivers do with their bad habits.

Yeah, I should have been clearer in my post. I forgot to mention that I was in the fast lane because there is a very busy on-ramp on the freeway just at the point where it ceases being a tollway (so all the freeloaders use it). I usually jump into the fast lane for a few moments if it is safe to do so to let them get their merging sorted out, then I slot back in. If I had stuck to my guns and exercised my right to stay in the slow lane, this wouldn’t have happened, but Sydney drivers can’t merge at the best of times, and this busy on-ramp has a traffic light at the top of it, so that on green a steady snake of bumper to bumper cars come down it. So, I will continue to use the fast lane for a few seconds in future; despite this one bad experience, most days it is actually a safer option. On this particular day though, the car I was trying to overtake was the head of the gapless snake of newbie cars. Only me and Mr Smalldick in the fast lane. I was only holding him up, and that is because he wanted me to go even more over the speed limit than I already was. Interestingly, when he did finally overtake me, he shot off at probably double the speed limit (instant loss of licence and A$2000+ fine), so I suspect the car may have been stolen or something.

Normally, I am very aware of not being in the fast lane when I don’t need to be, but the “give people space to merge” thing is common in Sydney, and it usually works very well, with the recently merged cars letting the others back in if they can. There’s always some arsehole though.

I suppose it is not PC to note that the driver I was overtaking, who was oblivious to all the flashing and honking going on in the lane a few feet from his window was an older Chinese gentleman driving a Volvo! :eek: