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      11-08-2012, 02:30 AM   #12
NemesisX
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Drives: '19 Infiniti Q60S
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: TX

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One thing I should mention is that I am totally in favor of increasing the legal speed limit here in the U.S. by...a lot.

In fact where I live (TX) we already have an interstate highway with the highest legal posted speed limit in the U.S. (85 MPH). 95 MPH would be relatively "safe" on this highway (as 95 would be 10 over which is usually allowed).

Another thing I should mention is that it's not speeding in and of itself that makes one a bad driver. It's creating speed differentials between you and the general flow of traffic.

Let's say we're on a 70 MPH highway where the general flow of traffic is 80-85 MPH in the right lane and 90-95 MPH in the left lane (I've seen this situation multiple times).

Let's say there's one person who merges into the slow lane and starts traveling at 70 MPH while every car around him is traveling at 80-85 MPH in the slow lane (and even faster in the fast lane).

Despite the fact that the 70 MPH driver is the only one actually following the speed limit, I'd brand him as the bad driver in this scenario. Why? Because it'd be much safer to just travel with the general flow of traffic. If the flow of traffic in the slow lane is 80 MPH (and you'll know this if you find yourself constantly being passed in the left lane by people who then re-merge into the right lane in front of you), you damned well better be going 80 MPH.

Speed differentials cause accidents - not speeding in and of itself.

On the other hand, if the general flow of traffic is 80 MPH in the right lane (with a posted speed limit of 70) and the general flow of traffic is 85 MPH in the passing lane, a bad driver would be one that drives > 85 MPH in the passing lane and expects people in the passing lane to get out of his way.

If people in the passing lane are, you know, passing cars in the slow lane and they're already driving well above the legal speed limit (70), the guy trying to exceed the general flow of traffic in either lane is the bad driver.

Unfortunately, I find myself doing exactly this when I'm on a major interstate highway. Say the slow lanes are traveling at 80 MPH and there are 3 guys in the fast lane in front of me traveling at 85 MPH but with wide open empty road ahead of them.

I will often go into "douche" mode and try my best to get in front of these 3 guys so I can open up and go 95-100 MPH for that open stretch of road in front of them until I hit the next block of traffic traveling at 85 MPH in the fast lane. It's bad driving because I really should just stick with the general flow of traffic in the passing lane as long as they are passing cars in the slow lane.

Now, let's say the slow lane is traveling at 85 MPH and there's someone in the passing lane traveling at 85 MPH. Then, that guy is the bad driver because the passing lane should only be used for passing. There is no universal "de facto" speed one should be traveling at in the passing lane. It completely depends on the general flow of traffic in the slow lane.
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