I believe in speed limits, I just don’t treat them as absolutes. Now, part of me wishes the limits WERE absolute, because I don’t like laws that are made to NOT be followed.
But the simple fact is that in most cases, nobody is expecting you to obey the speed limits. They are often set way below what is safe, or even below what they expect people to drive. For example, most roads are set 10 mph below what they want people to drive. Then, police only give out tickets to people going more than 10mph over the limit.
That way, you can’t really contest the ticket, like you could if the ticket was for 1mph over the limit. It’s not like you accidentally exceeded the limit by 25%. And then they will bargain with you down to a 1-9mph ticket, proving that they really wanted the speed limit 10mph faster.
However, I do follow speed limits on roads where the limits are slow (residential and local traffic roads). Where I tend to ignore limits are on the high-speed roads, where the limits are set either for the lowest common denominator of traffic and weather conditions (in which case if I’m driving at night in clear weather with no traffic on a road that is safe at 100mph, it makes no sense to force me to drive 65mph because some federal lawmaker once decided we should save gasoline).
I also tend to go the speed of the traffic. Since I like driving in the left lane because it is safer, that means I go the speed of people who drive in the left lane. i’m never the fastest car on the road, I’m following the faster cars that are driving in the left lane.
Thanks for an entertaining thread!
Having read all posts, I can only say that I am grateful to never have to commute on a major route again!
I laughed til I wept at the discussion about driving in the left lane.
I am so glad not to be driving much anymore, and then mostly on empty roads.
Stay safe.