Hegel-Oh's Wrote:
KPH Wrote:
I drive the speed limit and find it to be an oddly rewarding challenge. Seriously, I had to make a game out of it a few years back when I was (1) driving under the influence too often and (2) driving with an expired registration sticker. Now I drive 55 all the fucking time...it's kinda hysterical.
THere are a couple roads near where I live that if you attempted to go the speed limit you would be the cause of a huge accident. Sometimes you gotta speed. At least when everyone else is. Going the speed limit for me has come to mean to me that I go the same general speed as everyone else on the road. So, if everyone just decided to drive 80mph everywhere, then no one would get pulled over.
On the 101 near San Jose the posted speed is 65. But, everyone is going 80. Seriously, if you were to 65 you would get into an accident.
Well, I'm not an unreasonable guy. If the flow of traffic puts everyone 5-10 mph above the limit, I'm pretty sure I know how to respond.
But, in the end, the compulsion to drive faster, push the limit, etc...other than the mere thrill of speed (which I get and love and am probably too addicted to for my own good/longevity), why the hell do we need to get places *faster* all the time? Really, you'd need to up the driving speed by such a factor that our roads and equipment currently cannot support, and even if you could increase your speed by 20-30%, you're what, still saving maybe 20, 30 minutes tops?
Well, I can see that in the day to day kind of driving. I agree. It seems ridiculous to just go crazy and speed because at most I have noticed people arriving like 15 seconds before I do. Not that big of a deal.
However, going 75 or 80 on a trip across country saves you a TON of time. It's just more expensive.
If it is 3600 miles across country (in general) going 80 across country gets you in 15 hours faster than going 60. Almost a full day of driving, if those were average speeds.