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| Speed Limit 80MPH on Interstate Highway 15 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Here's something I thought I'd just toss out to you.
After many years of driving for miles and miles, and even a stint of driving professionally for a limousine service, I consider myself to be an excellent driver. I have a good driving record and keep my vehicles well maintained.
With these factors in mind I wonder if traffic laws should necessarily apply to me? Since I sometimes take lengthy road trips I could save a fair amount of time if I were able to drive 100 MPH or more when I deemed road conditions to be safe. I'm not talking in urban areas, but on those long low traffic stretches in places like the deserts of CA, AZ, and NM and the barren lands of West Texas. On other interstates where speed limits are 65 or 75 MPH I feel I can capably drive at 80 MPH or even 90 MPH if all conditions are safe for driving at higher speeds.
The speed laws are but one example. I think there are plenty of laws that would be okay for me to break. I'm an intelligent and reasonable kind of guy who can make good decisions as to when it's okay for me to disregard existing laws.
Sure, I understand that we are a nation of laws and all of those other cliches we hear. But really, do laws make that much difference any more? I am a decent citizen who is respectful to my community. Why can't I break the laws that I want to disregard?
Just wondering and thought I'd toss it out to you to see what you had to say on the matter.
Hahaha! And I thought I was the only one! I'm always speeding and feel the speed limits are too low in many areas. Luckily, the cops haven't noticed. In Germany, many of the highways have no speed limits and people are good drivers. Yes, there are some silly laws out there and I don't mind breaking them. Rebel from way back! ☺
ReplyDeleteDebbie, cars today are made to go fast. If I'm driving my van at 70 MPH it often feels like I'm only driving about 40 MPH. I try not to speed because I don't want a ticket, but I'd prefer to drive faster where it seems like it should be okay.
DeleteLee
If you broke them, then everyone would break them. Then we'd have mass chaos, dogs and cats living together...
ReplyDeleteI won't tell you how fast I normally drive then...
Alex, and yet there are some laws that millions break and they seem to encounter no resistance from the law enforcement agencies.
DeleteLee
This should be interesting.:) Most of our cars aren't build for high speeds nor are our roads.And of course what you deem sound judgement, I may view as craaaazy. LOL
ReplyDeleteHR, our personal vehicles drive so smoothly when we're on the highways that sometimes I don't even realize that I'm driving fast. Even when I'm speeding it always seems like a lot of other cars are going way faster because they are passing me.
DeleteLee
Well, even if you are respectful and responsible if you are allowed to break the laws, people who are not in any way respectful and responsible will feel they should be able to as well. Chaos results.
ReplyDeleteI live in Texas. There's a highway east of us that the speed limit is 90 MPH. You better believe my Other loves driving that one, haha
Madilyn, the irresponsible are already breaking plenty of laws and rarely face repercussions from doing so. Why not me if I'm doing it responsibly? I've seen the 85 MPH highways in TX, but not that 90 MPH. In West Texas when highways are mostly empty why not?
DeleteLee
Karen, we're getting to the Lord of the Flies stage almost now. And no one wants to be Piggie--we all want to rule our worlds.
ReplyDeleteLee
Laws do seem unimportant when so many go unenforced or on a whim at best.
ReplyDeleteDiedre, that's what I'm saying, but not saying very explicitly.
DeleteLee
Montana had no speed limit until some bureaucrat in Washington, who probably doesn't own a car, has never been west of the Appalachians, and takes the Metro to work every day, decided that if they didn't have a speed limit, they couldn't have Federal highway funds. No other reason. Some laws make no sense whatsoever, at least to those of us who aren't Washington bureaucrats.
ReplyDeleteThere's also probably a law against stopping, getting out of your car, and urinating on an Interstate highway, but when you're halfway between Sioux Falls and Pierre, SD on I-90 on a Sunday afternoon in late October and have to go, you're not looking for a gas station. Not that I know too many people who've done that...
John, when you gotta go you gotta go. That would have been my excuse if I had been caught when I had to empty my bladder and couldn't wait until the next rest room. It does happen. It has happened.
DeleteLee
My example of 'not applying to me' would be my trips to Spring Hill Beach in E. Sandwich. It's a private beach, but my dad owned a cottage there from 64-77, so I still consider it 'my beach'. lol Actually I don't go there as much as I used to b/c more people live there year round instead of just summers like in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteJoJo, the issue of "private beaches" has been in the news in Los Angeles lately. I've heard that beaches (at least in California) are all open to the public and cannot be under private ownership.
DeleteLee
The problem is that everyone thinks about themselves exactly as you described yourself. Obviously, everyone is incorrect.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, apparently the government and law enforcement don't always see things like this. And to them not all laws are equal. Oh, and to correct your statement, it should read, "Obviously, everyone else is incorrect." Me? I'm always right. (Unless I was wrong, but that hasn't happened yet).
DeleteLee
Oh, no, I meant "everyone" as a collective, singular noun, so it's correct. The key is not being part of "everyone." Definitely, I am not part of that collective; you can ask anyone.
DeleteAndrew, oh yeah--the mysterious "collective" everyone. My first wife used to refer to them a lot. Like you I'm not in the collective. I'm the boss of me and don't need no stinkin' government to tell me what to do. The problem is they have more manpower and firepower so I do have to be careful as to what extent I exert my personal freedom to ignore their laws in favor of mine.
DeleteLee
Lee-
ReplyDeleteIf, while driving through the Arizona desert your speedometer reads 110mph and there is no state trooper around to clock you, were you in fact speeding?
I remember an old Steven Wright line-
I got pulled over for doing 50mph in a 25mph speed zone. But I told the cop, "But I was only going to be out for a half hour"
Someone did a post where they posited that speeding was sinning because you were breaking the rules of man, but for traffic laws, the whole point of the law is safety. SO when I fracture them, as long as I am the only person's safety I am risking, I do not feel guilty about it.
Larry, I think, according to my understanding of the Bible, that breaking man's laws can be considered wrong unless those laws are immoral. That's another good reason the speeding laws should be removed. We don't want to be held up to another standard that might be construed as sinning.
DeleteI won't say I feel guilty when I speed, but I do feel kind of paranoid about getting caught.
Lee
The speed limit is 70 on the interstate. The slowpokes are going 80. So it would be hard here to break the rules when the average speed is 85.
ReplyDeleteRoads with long distance disability and low traffic may be good for no speed limits. However, highway deaths dropped dramatically when the speed limit was dropped to 55 to reduce gas consumption.
I am a rule follower. I go the speed limit or keep pace with traffic which is often higher than the speed limit. At our age, we might get a pat on the back with our ticket Lee.
Ann, I tend to abide by your criteria. Speed limit--or a few miles above it--unless everyone else is going far faster and then I keep in sync with the traffic.
DeleteLee
For me, it's like all the people in our area that think that it's okay for them to break the leash law because their dog is so well behaved. So they can "just be a dog." The guy that said that to me was letting his dog run through the swamp- which abuts a road. And what if a car was coming when he decided to come flying out of the water? You as an owner- or a driver- never know what might be around the corner. The leash law is for the DOG'S safety, too. How about you show your love for the dog- and others- by keeping him safe?
ReplyDeleteCW, obedience to the law appears to be selective.
DeleteLee
But what if you have a dog that is perfectly under voice control? Why should your smart trained dog have to abide by the same standards that not so smart dogs have to adhere to?
DeleteI suppose laws have to be made NOT for the GOOD drivers but those who are not.
ReplyDeleteBeing a non driver there would certainly more rules made here should I was let loose on the road.
Enjoy your week-end.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, in theory I guess laws are there to protect us from people like bad drivers and bad people, but they are the ones who disregard the law the most.
DeleteLee
Hey Lee,
ReplyDeleteI reckon you should break every law you so choose. Hell, if rich folks can break the law, why not you. Then again, you might be rich from all that alphabet fame!
Have a nice weekend, good sir. I typed this above the speed limit..................
Gary
Gary, I wish I were rich from doing A to Z. Heck, I'd be happy to be making a respectable supplemental living from it. Seems like plenty of people break the law and they aren't all necessarily rich.
DeleteLee
Oh go ahead and break this rule when you are on these lonely stretches. I find, in Ontario we drive rather nuts. When I went to New York State and Pennsylvania last year, I was surprised at how decent the drivers were and how they stuck to the speed limit. I am used to the nuts on the QEW to Toronto who feel driving 140km/hr or more is the norm. In Germany, they have no speed limits-It's fun:)
ReplyDeleteBirgit, the QEW was pretty wild back in the 80's when I used to drive it. The size of it around Toronto is immense. I remamber once staying at a hotel overlooking the QEW and being mesmerized watching the mass of traffic continually flowing by. I try to adhere to speed limits when I feel like I could get caught exceeding them, but when other people are flying I'm right there with them.
DeleteLee
I've always maintained that rules don't apply to me. I think all rules are made to be broken...or at least bent a little. Laws, on the other hand, not so much. Now I am a speed demon. I love to drive fast. But I try not to go too too much over the speed limit, mainly because I don't want the insurance hike that comes with the ticket.
ReplyDeleteI do think that wide open roads, such as the ones you are talking about Lee, should have a higher speed limit, like the Autobahn...
Michele at Angels Bark
Michele, the insurance hike is the worst part of getting a ticket. I avoid that most of all. The ticket costs are not pleasant to pay either.
DeleteLee
Be a daredevil. Its like the song says - I want to break free.
ReplyDeleteSpacer, I want to break free, but I don't want to break my bank.
DeleteLee
In regards to speeding: I have a tendency to speed sometimes, if only to stay with the overall flow of traffic. The problem is that while you're driving the speed limit, either on highways or suburbia, you are creating traffic jams.
ReplyDeleteSo perversely, being a safe at or below the speed limit driver means that you are a serious traffic hazard. As if, creating car/pedestrian accidents.
In regards to other laws: I have been on the receiving end of someone breaking the traffic law, and while I was found not culpable by the police, it'll cost me money and higher insurance rates.
Amazon
GB, If everyone was kicked off the highway except for you and me and a few other essential people, the roads would be much safer. I often look at all the other cars when I'm out driving and wonder who the hell are all these people and where are they going.
DeleteLee
Interesting post and the comments too. I generally drive about 5 miles over the speed limit. My son once did a ride along with a police officer who told him they don't pull drivers over for less than 10 miles over, unless of course there is reckless driving involved. I confess I'm pretty much a rules keeper by nature. The other issue I always consider is what example am I setting for my kids and what kind of witness is it about my faith. Those two things generally keep my pretty much in check.
ReplyDeleteSheila, I appreciate the issues you bring up about what our actions say to others. I've been trying to stay no more than 9 MPH over the speed limit when appropriate since I've also heard that the police usually don't pull anyone over for that speed infraction.
DeleteLee
I agree it's not wise to speed through an urban area, but I don't understand why one can't go past a certain speed on the highway or even some roads. There's not much difference, to me, between 30 and 40 miles, or 55 and 65. Surely the cops have bigger crimes to concern themselves with than setting up speed traps and ticketing people for going 5–10 miles over the speed limit. It's not like people who sometimes speed on the road routinely go 100+ MPH and endanger others.
ReplyDeleteI also drove in Pennsylvania when I only had a learner's permit, and later found out from the professional instructor who finally got me to pass my road test that I shouldn't have done that in another state. I don't see what the big deal about that was either, particularly since my father was really impressed by how much my driving had improved and how I successfully drove on some long stretches of road with traffic cones all around.
Carrie-Anne, speed traps are a big business in some places and I truly dislike them. I've heard that the police typically won't stop highway drivers who are going less than 9 MPH over the speed limit.
DeleteLee
It's up there with the law about not turning left at a red light at two am when there isn't another driver on the road for a mile. There's nothing to hit! Should you be able to break that law- yes. Will the undercover cop who is sitting in the parking lot across the street give you a ticket anyway- yup. Obedient humans who follow the rules instead of thinking and deciding what is best are better for controlling societies. Thus the expression "the person is smart, but the people are stupid."
ReplyDeleteJ--I've so wanted to go through those red lights when no traffic was around, but it's way too obvious and I'd be the one to get caught. With speeding I usually just fall in with the crowd.
DeleteLee