Traffic Laws and the People Who Don't Understand Them

Speeding.

We’re all guilty of it. Every single person who gets behind the wheel of a car has gone faster than the posted speed limit from time to time. Most of us do this when we’re teenagers and we think we’re bullet-proof. My first car was a 1992 Ford Escort. I got when I was sixteen, drove it for about six months, and proceeded to try and park it underneath a pick-up truck that was waiting to make a turn.

1992 Ford Not-In-Focus

Yep, crashed it…totaled it. But I was sixteen, I didn't yet know any better. That was the car that truly introduced me to speed. I’d been in the car with my parents when we’d had to hit 80-plus miles per hour, and once or twice we probably touched 90. I’d heard stories from my Dad about how he used to ride motorcycles and regularly top out over 100 mph.

But I never felt the rush that came with being behind the wheel and going faster and faster. That surge of adrenaline as you pushed the car to go faster than it probably should. I've said before that, when driving, life doesn't start until you hit triple-digits. That Ford Escort is responsible for introducing me to triple-digits*. It registered 120 mph. The peg was set at 125, or thereabouts…I figured it to be about 5 mph beyond the 120 limit.

I had the speedometer bouncing off the peg. By my best guess, I had that car over 125 mph. Like I said, I was all that was teenager. I was bullet-proof. It was two months later before I tried parking under the truck, which taught me a valuable physics lesson. The seatbelt on a 1992 Ford Escort can lock up so tight it will actually compress your ribs and fracture your sternum. To this day I struggle to listen to the album “Let’s Face It” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. That’s what I was listening to when I crashed. Call it a weak version of PTSD.

Kinda Looks Like My Old S-10

But ever since I first reached triple-digits I’ve loved finding out what a car can do. My next ride was a 1996 Chevrolet S-10, with a 4.3-liter V6 Vortec engine that could produce upwards of 175 horsepower, which was manic in a vehicle as light as the S-10. The Escort would only make about 88 hp. The S-10 had far better acceleration than the Escort, but the S-10 was governed. While only registering 100 mph, the fuel flow would shut off once you hit 96 mph. Why? Who knows? Probably an auto manufacturer being pressured by some bureaucrat to make the choices for the user that keep the user “safe.”

Now I drive a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, which has a 2.4-liter Ecotec engine. The Cobalt registers 120 mph, and I know it will touch 115. I had to make a business trip to Huntsville, Alabama a couple years ago, and on my way north on I-75, between Atlanta and Chattanooga, I hooked up with three other cars and we basically drafted off each other the whole way, regularly changing who was in the lead. I knew it felt as though we were making good time, and when I glanced at the speedometer I realized why. I was running 90. So were they. It was a good Sunday afternoon drive for all involved.

Yes, I like driving fast. So do a lot of other people. I regularly drive I-985 on my way to work. The average commute on I-985 happens at about 80 mph or better. Of course, you get outliers on both sides. There’s always one guy driving 55 mph on the interstate, being passed by the guy driving 95 mph. Which brings me finally to my point: on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s web page, they have an article called “The Vent,” in which any reader can offer a quick quip about what’s bugging them.

A Venter recently wrote: “What's wrong staying in the left lane if you are driving 10 mph over the posted speed limit? It's the dummy running 30 mph over the limit that causes serious accidents. If I can slow them down by staying in the left lane, I will do just that.”

The “wrong,” Mr. Venter (assuming the writer to be male), is that you don’t know why someone is speeding. Yeah, I’ve driven fast just because I wanted to, but I’ve also had several instances where driving fast was necessary. That person coming up behind you doing 30 mph over the speed limit just might be on their way to the Emergency Room. They may have a loved one on the brink of death. And you think it’s your job to stop them because you’ve appointed yourself traffic police…

Even if the person coming up behind you doing 30 mph over the limit is doing so for fun, you still have to move. Every interstate I’ve ever been on has a wonderful little sign along the side of the road that reads “SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT” or “KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS.” If you’re driving 80 mph in the left lane, and someone doing 100 mph comes up behind you, then an interesting dynamic has taken place. While you were, just moments before, passing slower traffic, you have now become slower traffic. Get over. Get out of the way.

Truthfully, more often than not, it isn’t the “dummy running 30 mph over” that causes serious accidents…it’s the “dummy running barely the speed limit in the fast lane, thus impeding the flow of traffic” that cause accidents. Too many people think they can just drive in the left lane whenever they want, so long as they go the speed limit. A good friend of mine thinks he can drive in the left lane whenever he wants simply because he is a tax payer.

All it takes is a basic understanding of traffic laws, people. The left lane is often referred to as the “passing lane.” If you are not passing another car, then stay out of that lane. If you are getting over into that lane, then use your turn signal to let other drivers know. Contrary to what is apparently popular belief, simply sitting behind the steering wheel of a car does not make one psychic. If you are getting into a turning lane, then get all the way into the turning lane…don’t remain halfway out into the traffic lanes, slowing everyone else down.

Perhaps as a nation we need to better invest in driver’s education. We could learn a lesson or two from Finland and how they teach their young people to drive. We could also stand to be more courteous on the roads. Doing the things listed above (turn signals, better driving practices, etc.) can greatly reduce instances of road rage. Also understand that it is not your job to police other drivers. I don’t believe in ‘karma,’ per se, but I do believe that people get what they give (that whole Golden Rule thing)…

* - I know the car is not responsible. I'm definitely not one of those people who blames the car, or the gun, or the fast food place...people are responsible for their own choices. *