by Thomas Russell

Created on: October 14, 2008

So, there I am, driving at a comfortable clip on a road where the speed limit is 50. I look at the speedometer and see that the needle is precisely where it should be. Rounding a curve, I see this big, audacious Lincoln Continental in front of me. The problem is the driver doesn't have the will to push the accelerator down hard enough to maintain the same speed I'm going. In fact, he feels it necessary to drive 15 MPH below the speed limit.

Arggghh! Now, I will admit I've been known to go over the speed limit a time or two...well, maybe a few more times than that....ok, most of the time. But I can never figure out why people refuse to at least drive the speed limit. It's not that I'm necessarily in a hurry, but when you have to constantly press your brake because the driver decides to speed up a bit and then apparently realizes he needs to slow down again to maintain the snail speed he previously had, it's downright maddening.

I think there should be a law that states if you can't go the speed limit, you should pull off to the side of the road and let the people who do continue on. Obviously, that will never happen, but it's nice to fantasize about such a thing.

To make matters worse, you have to deal with those people who decide to pull out from a side street just as you're coming close to you. It's one of those indecisive "Do I take the chance and pull out and speed up as quickly as possible?" or "I'm not really paying attention to the rules of the road, so I'll just go and have this nice guy who is going the speed limit smack me in my tail, thereby causing an accident, which would be his fault."

That happened to me recently. I was watching this guy come to a stop at a side street. I'm thinking to myself, "Don't do it, Bubba! Don't you even think about pulling out in front of me!" But he did. Going the speed limit once again (yep I do that on occasion), I either had the opportunity to hit him from behind or pass him because I was too close. I chose the the latter. The problem was I did it crossing a no passing zone. I figured I was safe. The cop who was coming the other way failed to see my reasoning, so he stopped me. I told him about my dilemma, so he just let me off with a warning and told me to brake sooner. I could have told him that would have been impossible given the circumstances, but I didn't want to rile him up and get a ticket.

I guess the bottom line is speed limits are there for people to obey. If we didn't have them, we'd have another Autobahn like it is in Germany. Complete havoc, that's for sure. But if you see me coming, rest assured I will do everything in my power to be patient. But when you see an Amish buggy passing you because you're going too slow, all bets are off.

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