I think all states should have an interstate limit of 70. That way you don't have some 65, some 70, others 75, some still 55. I think Ron White has a hilarious joke about speed limits in Texas, "...because going the same speed on the same road just...doesn't make sense."
I think speed limits, they are already "guidelines", should be posted much more often and more clearly. The limits should make sense. You have an astonishingly long, straight stretch of highway...use it! You don't have to, of course, because fuel mileage decreases rapidly in an inverse relationhip to speed. If you aren't taking advantage of the high-speed opportunity, you should stick to the right lane. Which brings me to another complaint I have that I'll speak on later.
OK, I can't stand it, I'll speak on it now. I hate stupid people that ride in the fast lane going the same speed as those in any other lane. I hate it when people pull out in the right lane, if they were chillin' in the left, to pass somebody, but only go about 2 mph faster than the car they are passing. Then they have to pull an entire 53 footer length in front of the car they passed so they have "enough room" and don't "cut them off" when they get back into their lave. Holy craaaaap!, you got rooooom! And those people that pull out without looking in their mirrors, arrgghh! And those who pull in front of you because they did look in their mirrors and thought you were going too fast for their tastes. I swear, one day I'm gonna just keep going, right into the back of their car, then do a U-turn to the other side of the highway and get out of there really quick.
We have this road near my house, a busy one; it goes to the Dayton Mall. At night it isn't too crowded, but the people still cruise about 35-40 mph. The limit is 45. Jesus Christ, go, fool, go! Only 5...mph..to..go...arrr...****, they stopped speeding up!! That's what I feel like. So frustrating! The American memebers will know this one: Those four lane city streets that have a fifth "unisex" turn lane in the middle, the one in between the yellow lines. You know those people that pull out of a parking lot into that lane, usually because the road is really crowded, so they can pull into the road when traffic passes? Sometimes they do it just cause they're lazy b.astards, like in the middle of the night. I slow down right next to these people, when there isn't much traffic, of course, and when they speed up to pull in front of me, I speed up too. They realize I'm messing with them, so they slow to pull in behind me. I slow down too. We just keep going, sometimes slowing back to a stop. It could last 15+ seconds. Then I just speed off, leaving them dazed and confused. Hilarious!
What else pisses me off?.....red light runners! It's an epidemic. Around the mall people just go when they frickin' feel like it. I've owned quit a few of them; I'm a brave, defensive driver, like my dad. I try not to do stupid, annoying, illegal stuff because I know it pisses people off. So when someone does it to me, I, well, get pissed. I play games with them, and I usually win.
Back on topic, even if there were no speed limits I wouldn't go much faster than I do now. The only difference would be that I would never think "I might get a ticket for this." I rarely do crazy 100-in-a-35 stuff. Actually, I never have. I drive spirited, with performance in mind, yet I've never personally driven over 100mph. And that was on the highway. I drive whatever feels safe. Sometimes it is well over the speed limit, sometimes it's under the limit. I drive what is appropriate for the weather conditions, what is appropriate for the car I'm driving, what is appropriate for the surroundings, etc. I don't like driving at night, so I don't very often. Some people drive with complete disregard for any of the stuff I listed, and those are the people who get in wrecks. The ones that didn't play video games and never developed good peripheral vision. I see all. I only pay attention to what is important, usually the car in front of me. I watch when he slows, when he accelerates, I match it, keep decent distance, all that good stuff. If there is no car I pay attention to the road ahead, I read curves, I'm rarely surprised by a change in the road, I don't get scared when most people would, if I get in a predicament I think quickly and act, rather than just acting, like "regular" drivers. I experiment every now and then, and if I find something I can't do well or don't want to do again, I don't do it again. Like the time I spun my dad's truck out in the rain. I didn't think it would be that touchy; I had drifted it a few times earlier that day. But it didn't like that particular corner, and I haven't tried that since.
I actually think about what I'm doing when I'm driving. Most people don't think about the car, what it can handle, they don't have a feel for the details, they can't picture the car's reaction before it happens, so they are surprised and can't react appropriately. I'm not a race car driver, no where near it, but I have a better handle on my car than 90% of others. I'm sure there a lot of people on this site that are above average in driving skill.
Here's another thing. I think this country should have rules that are followed closely, like in Germany and most of Europe. I know that will never happen, because this country goes out instead of up. Everything is far apart. Even regular people have to drive to get to work. In Germany driving liscences are very expensive and take a long time to aquire, so only those who want to drive, usually they're alright at it, or those who must drive get their liscence. We will never have a multitude of competant drivers in this country, there are simply too many people.
What was I getting at with that? Oh, we need two different types of "driving schools" in this country. A law related school, like we have now, and an actual driving school, where people learn how to control their vehicles under various situations, learn to drive a stick, etc. so they don't have to figure it out on the streets. Your car starts fishtailing in the snow. What do you do? You better figure it out quick, but if you would have been taught, you would be able to react more effectively. You get the idea? So many people have never heard of threshold braking. It's absolutely amazing. What, you don't have ABS? Just stomp that pedal and fry those tires! No, actually, you should find the "sweet spot", where the tires are right on the edge of locking up. It takes a little finesse and skill, but it's mostly common sense. If your tires aren't rolling, you can't turn. This technique solves that problem. I've been in two situations where I had to use it, and if I wouldn't have Dad would have been pissed.
I know all this stuff costs money, which is why this is a pointless argument. The big G has it all figured out. They have to make everyone happy, balance fuel economy with getting there quickly, make driver's permits fairly inexpensive so those who need/want one can easily get one, all sorts of crap. The system won't change. The only change I see that could occur is posting limits more often. That's about it.
I really don't know if I made any good points in that cluster, but I said what I said.
Good stuff!
