Why do people become unhinged when you drive exactly the speed limit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't care about interstate of multi-lane roads. Go however fast you want. Knock yourself out!

In residential areas, go the speed limit or 5 over. I see so many idiots going 40-50 in a 25.

Bonus: nobody knows how to do a 4-way stop in Northern Virginia. Unbelievable.

You’ve never seen someone going 50 in a 25 in your life. Get real, lady.

Maybe 3 mornings out of 5 when I'm driving my kid to school, someone guns it and swerves around me to run the red light I'm stopped at. In a school zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it’s probably the speed. Although you might think you’re being a good citizen by driving at exactly the posted speed limit, the reality is that most of the roads can be safely driven on 10-15 mph above the posted limit.
I also bet you’re the type of driver that takes much longer to get up to the posted speed limit, and I’m also betting you are the kind of driver that probably sit’s at green lights for 5 seconds before moving. Driving in the area is bad enough as it is but it’s drivers like you that make the situation worse.

I'm not risking a ticket. And speeding and reckless driving is unsafe, not me. And I doubt you're an ER surgeon on call needed to go save a life. Your speeding doesn't even get you anywhere any faster. You're just raging and need to relax. And sadly, the streets are full of crazies like you who think law abiding drivers are the issue. YOU are the issue.

You sound a wee bit, er a lot unhinged… maybe you should try speeding up a bit. Stay in the far right lane if you insist on not adjusting your behavior to actual road conditions. You aren’t getting a ticket for going 5-10 over. Have some fun. It might help.

I have gotten a ticket for driving 10 over (80 in a 70)

Isn’t 80 reckless in VA? And the speed limit isn’t 70 anywhere within the DC area.

You wouldn’t get pulled over for 65 in a 55.

It wasn't in VA (or the DV area).

How do you know I wouldn't be pulled over for going 65 in a 55? I responded to someone who said you won't get pulled over for going 10mph, which is false since I have.

Where was it?

On just about every highway, this is true. I’m sure there is some exception but it’s rare.

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite things on earth is to wave at the person who tore past me a couple miles earlier and is now sitting on the side of the road getting a ticket. I always notice, and it always tickles me.

Can someone here tell me how that feels? Sitting there fuming while the trooper grills you, seeing all the people you menaced cruising by smiling? Really, I'd like to know. I haven't gotten a ticket in probably 20 years (and that was a backwater speedtrap-- even the cop seemed sheepish about how shady it was) so I don't have any experience here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t drive a Tesla and don’t use cruise control, but I also go the speed limit. Many people get super annoyed as OP describes. They can do whatever they do, I’m not breaking the law because “I think the road is safe for 10-15 mph higher.” I have a new teen driver, and he loses the keys if he speeds. I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say it’s okay for me to speed.

I used to speed and one day I just realized how pointless it was. You really don't get anywhere any faster unless you're on some super long road trip for a travel sport and it might save a whole 30 minutes if you speed (big whoop). I think people are projecting their anger and stress when they drive like lunatics. Slow down and smell the roses, you know what I mean? Take it easy.

Exactly. It says SO much more about the people doing the agressive passing than it does about the person driving appropriately. It says they have overinflated egos, that they think they're the main character. It says they're morons with no idea of how speed actually works. Driving 20 miles over the limit on a 50 mile trip will save you about six minutes. But it increases your chance of a severe crash by 30%.

So, Tesla driver, smile a sunny smile as they ratchet up their blood pressure and put their families at risk to save... nothing.

NP. I'm a cautious driver who routinely goes 5-10 (maybe 15) over the speed limit. I get tailgated all the time, even in the right lane. It's so annoying. There is a construction zone in an area I travel through frequently where my husband has gotten two tickets for going around 68 (in a 55). I don't want a ticket, so I try to say closer to 5 over, and it's taking my life into my hands with how people tailgate. Again, that's in a construction zone. Every time this topic comes up, it is clear that the majority of people think that any lane but the right is for traveling as fast as a driver wants to go, and anyone impeding that speeding is in the wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Roads can safely handle higher speeds than are posted. Speed limits are set very conservatively, often with fuel efficiency in mind, and with "safety" as a notional purpose even though few accidents are attributable exclusively to driving 10-15 over the posted limit. 20 mph and over is another matter, but most accidents are due to inattentive/distracted driving, driver inexperience or age, or drunk/drugged driving, not speeding slightly.

Most vehicle speedometers read several mph over actual speed, which is why speed cameras and police won't cite anyone for speeding unless they are actually travelling at least 9mph as measured by calibrated radar over the posted limit. So, when you set your cruise control to the exact posted speed limit, chances are you're actually going slower than you think.

Lastly , the reality is that behavior like yours encourages road rage, whether you think it should or not. Ignoring that reality makes you complicit in it when it could easily be avoided by driving more like most people do and by diligently staying right except to pass so that people who want to drive faster than you can do so safely, whether they do so by exceeding the posted limit or not. Self-righteousness does nothing to make the roads safer for everyone.

Stopping for stop signs also encourages road rage, but I'm not complicit in shit. Get your anger under control or get off the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that even the speed cameras only give you a ticket if you are more than 12 mph over the speed limit right? (“Risking a ticket….”)

Not true; D.C. just issued us a speed camera ticket for going 11 over the speed limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things on earth is to wave at the person who tore past me a couple miles earlier and is now sitting on the side of the road getting a ticket. I always notice, and it always tickles me.

Can someone here tell me how that feels? Sitting there fuming while the trooper grills you, seeing all the people you menaced cruising by smiling? Really, I'd like to know. I haven't gotten a ticket in probably 20 years (and that was a backwater speedtrap-- even the cop seemed sheepish about how shady it was) so I don't have any experience here!

Or merely at the same stop light a mile or two up the road. I hope it clicks their speeding is POINTLESS. But I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things on earth is to wave at the person who tore past me a couple miles earlier and is now sitting on the side of the road getting a ticket. I always notice, and it always tickles me.

Can someone here tell me how that feels? Sitting there fuming while the trooper grills you, seeing all the people you menaced cruising by smiling? Really, I'd like to know. I haven't gotten a ticket in probably 20 years (and that was a backwater speedtrap-- even the cop seemed sheepish about how shady it was) so I don't have any experience here!

Or merely at the same stop light a mile or two up the road. I hope it clicks their speeding is POINTLESS. But I doubt it.

I always give a couple flashes of my lights and a couple friendly taps on the horn when that happens. If they look back I wave. The bird usually follows from them. One woman actually tried to throw a cup of coffee at my car while we were at the light. She screwed up and it went up and then splat, right on her car’s roof. I felt so good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things on earth is to wave at the person who tore past me a couple miles earlier and is now sitting on the side of the road getting a ticket. I always notice, and it always tickles me.

This completely made up scenario is one of your favorite things on earth?

You’re such a loser it hurts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things on earth is to wave at the person who tore past me a couple miles earlier and is now sitting on the side of the road getting a ticket. I always notice, and it always tickles me.

Can someone here tell me how that feels? Sitting there fuming while the trooper grills you, seeing all the people you menaced cruising by smiling? Really, I'd like to know. I haven't gotten a ticket in probably 20 years (and that was a backwater speedtrap-- even the cop seemed sheepish about how shady it was) so I don't have any experience here!

I go 5-10 mph over the speed limit regularly and occasionally 15 over on interstates. I got hit by a driver who was trying to beat a traffic light more than 25 years ago and haven’t been in an accident since then. Everyone who drives a little over the speed limit isn’t a menace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roads can safely handle higher speeds than are posted. Speed limits are set very conservatively, often with fuel efficiency in mind, and with "safety" as a notional purpose even though few accidents are attributable exclusively to driving 10-15 over the posted limit. 20 mph and over is another matter, but most accidents are due to inattentive/distracted driving, driver inexperience or age, or drunk/drugged driving, not speeding slightly.

Most vehicle speedometers read several mph over actual speed, which is why speed cameras and police won't cite anyone for speeding unless they are actually travelling at least 9mph as measured by calibrated radar over the posted limit. So, when you set your cruise control to the exact posted speed limit, chances are you're actually going slower than you think.

Lastly , the reality is that behavior like yours encourages road rage, whether you think it should or not. Ignoring that reality makes you complicit in it when it could easily be avoided by driving more like most people do and by diligently staying right except to pass so that people who want to drive faster than you can do so safely, whether they do so by exceeding the posted limit or not. Self-righteousness does nothing to make the roads safer for everyone.

Stopping for stop signs also encourages road rage, but I'm not complicit in shit. Get your anger under control or get off the road.

Sounds like you have rage too!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it’s probably the speed. Although you might think you’re being a good citizen by driving at exactly the posted speed limit, the reality is that most of the roads can be safely driven on 10-15 mph above the posted limit.
I also bet you’re the type of driver that takes much longer to get up to the posted speed limit, and I’m also betting you are the kind of driver that probably sit’s at green lights for 5 seconds before moving. Driving in the area is bad enough as it is but it’s drivers like you that make the situation worse.

I'm not risking a ticket. And speeding and reckless driving is unsafe, not me. And I doubt you're an ER surgeon on call needed to go save a life. Your speeding doesn't even get you anywhere any faster. You're just raging and need to relax. And sadly, the streets are full of crazies like you who think law abiding drivers are the issue. YOU are the issue.

That right there is why you get the reactions you do. The combination of the Tesla and the rigid adherence to the speed limit signals you are goody-two-shoes, righteousness prick that no one likes. Even the cops expect people to go up to 10 mph over the speed limit.

[Anonymous]

Mistakenly go 10 over thru a school zone and you’ll be nicked for reckless driving, ya putz.

[Anonymous]

Get into an accident while going 5-10 over and when you’re sued, the plaintiff’s lawyer will retrieve the black box recording device data from your car and find you at fault. Hope you thoroughly enjoyed getting everywhere 30 seconds faster when you’re personally on the hook for a large judgment or you can’t get insurance moving forward after your insurance settles and cancels you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go the speed limit now or 5mph over. The police in my area have been cracking down due to the insane reckless driving. I now see them pulling people over often. I’ve gotten pulled over twice myself. The speed limit is what they want you to go. Not above, not below.

If I get tailgated, I don’t care. They can drive around me.

Where is this?

Not in DMV