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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,027
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As those who have received citations for having done so can attest, driving faster than the speed limit is not without risk. However it does not naturally follow that driving faster than the speed limit necessarily implies driving dangerously. There are actually times when driving the speed limit is risky---as in freezing rain, for example. The speed limit is just a number, chosen by some sort of “official” procedure, an assessment by somebody (or some group of somebodies) at some level in the state or local government. Despite being so chosen and designated as the limit beyond which driving is considered dangerous, in the final analysis it really is just an opinion, a one-size-fits-all determination, albeit an official one that carries legal consequences.
People who exceed that limit can do so in at least a couple of ways. Some do so in a way that qualifies, in the mind of any rational human being, as being truly arrogant and reckless. These people are, for whatever reason, intentionally courting disaster and deserve whatever bad thing(s) that occur to them (and, unfortunately, sometimes to others as well) as a result. Others, however, do so in a carefully controlled manner that makes bad outcomes (other than potentially being ticketed) exceedingly unlikely. It’s probably pretty obvious by now that I go this route on occasion, when conditions are right. When folks like me and, I’d bet, most others on this Forum who elect on occasion to drive this way, it necessarily must be done in a manner that carefully and rigorously and constantly considers and anticipates the important concept of “what if”.
What if something or somebody runs out from behind that parked car? [Actually, just an example…if there are parked cars in the area I’m pretty much always driving close to the speed limit.] What if that car approaching my road from a side road decides not to stop at that stop sign? What if the driver of that car ahead coming in my direction decides, with no turn signal, to suddenly make a left turn across my path? My point is that in such circumstances you have to assume, in Murphy’s Law fashion , that if something bad can happen, it may well in fact come to pass---and you’d better be ready for it. Complicating matters, other people on the road assume that others around them are all driving the speed limit (or close to it). They, as a result, may well do things that they otherwise would not if they knew the speeder was driving as fast as he was. The speeder absolutely cannot count on the fact that other drivers should be able to figure this out if they were simply paying attention---the burden is entirely on him, and it’s something such a driver must always, without fail, be mindful of.
As a result, people who exceed this opinion that has been somewhat randomly designated “the speed limit” must do so taking all this into account. You have to assume others on the road are inattentive, distracted and, quite possibly just bad drivers. You have to anticipate any reasonably possible contingency AND, equally importantly, must leave yourself time or space (or both) for you and your vehicle to be able to avert a problem if and when it occurs. It requires the utmost in concentration, foresight and reflexes---it's a fair amount of work, maintaining that degree of focus. Maybe more importantly, it requires you know your own limitations and not exceed them. There is a LOT at stake, and if there’s a problem, there’s going to be an almost irrebuttable presumption that you, the speeder, were at fault, regardless of what anyone else did.
All that said, however, I can’t argue with those who say “Take it to the track.” Odds are great that drivers around you there will be a ton more predictable than those on the street, are almost certainly not on their cell phones or applying makeup in the rearview mirror, and probably won’t suddenly do irrational (and stupid) things.
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1997 Porsche Boxster
Hybrid Mode
