I think the Flouride in the water is doing its thing…
Almost every time I go out, I come up on a car – or an SmooVee – that’s doing either just barely or several (often many) MPH below the posted limit. The typical offender also likes to slow down and speed up for no apparent reason; the concept of maintaining a flow is beyond them. They’ll wander across the double yellow – and not just in the curves. Then jerk the wheel to recover their lane.
And of course the limit itself is already ridiculous. Well below what a competent, alert driver can safely handle. So these slo’ mo’s are actually running (if that’s the right word) 10-20 mph below a reasonable cruising along speed.
For example, the main road through my county is US 221. This is a broad, two-lane secondary highway with gentle curves and many long, straight sections that run for as much as a mile or more. It is posted 55 mph. Most of the traffic is doing 60-65. That feels like you’re standing still. Cruising at 70-plus (assuming no cops) is about the same as doing the same speed on an Interstate.
Then you come up on some cowhead in an SmooVee (as often as not, some chrome-covered gigantosaurus with a 300-400 hp V-8) gimping along at 56 mph – slowing for the curves.
I wouldn’t mind these people so much if they’d just pull off and let the faster-moving traffic get by. But using the rearview mirror (and exercising common courtesy) are two things unknown to the pilots of SmooVees and Breedermobiles and high-powered luxury cars bought solely for the status, that never experience the north side of half throttle.
They just keep on going (slowly), indifferent to the line of cars stacking up behind them.
I have to do across-the-double-yellow passes every day. Sometimes two or three times in a row. It’s either that or let an SmooVee under the sway of some Flouride-addled cowhead determine my pace. And that isn’t in my operations manual.
Anyway, it seems to me the problem is getting worse and maybe it’s because there are more geezers on the road (America is graying; the proportion of oldsters is rapidly increasing) and because the up and coming generations have been reared in an environment of subservience, if not outright worship of “the law.”
With my generation (Generation X) it was very different. We grew up contemptuous of “the law” and did our best to circumvent it when it seemed stupid. The 55 mph limit, for example. That was my reality in high school and college. And it was so obviously idiotic that not only did people in my g-g-g-generation ignore it whenever they could, it imparted a reflexive cynicism and suspicion of “the law” in general. From 55 to the Dope Laws and on and on.
So, we developed our own compasses. We evaluated a situation on its merits and decided accordingly. Who the hell cares what the number on a sign by the side of the road says?
But today’s crowd was reared in an environment of less-than-individualism. They are much less likely to know there’s a two-part question: Ok, it’s illegal. But does that mean it’s wrong?
Plus, they grew up in a video game word, with cars that are deceptively easy to “drive.” Many have never experienced a car with drum brakes and no ABS. If you had 100 of them do a road test in a 1970 F-100 pick-up with a three-on-the-tree manual and no power steering (or brakes) 90 of them would be in the ditch, wheels-up, within five minutes.
But mainly, it’s the suffocating steam of “safety” – the endless background drone that says to ever drive even a single MPH faster than that number on that sign … Well, you might as well get an AK and go shoot up a kindergarten.
People have absorbed this. They live it. How else to explain the situation? Almost everyone is driving around in a car that is fully capable of safely (assuming a competent driver) running much, much faster than the speed limits on American roads. And not just running faster. They stop well, too. Most modern cars take half the distance to come to a complete stop relative to a car from the 1960s – when speed limits were higher than they are today, by the way.
And they have ABS and traction control and a whole array of technologies that keep them on the road even when the driver can’t. All for what, exactly? So the “driver” can plod along at speeds that would have seemed hypercautious back in 1966?
At least back in ’66, the bluehair (or whomever) up ahead would have pulled off onto the shoulder to let you by.
It’s getting worse for sure!
I’ve noticed people seem to be getting more aggressive when I try to pass them, speeding up and honking their horn at me.
Don’t understand it..
Same here!
It’s really strange. I could understand it if I were tailgating them or something like that. But I never do. I keep a safe distance, then when the opportunity comes up, I hammer it and pass ‘em. But about 8 our of 10 of them seem to think it’s their job to force me to drive at whatever speed they are doing – even if it’s less than the limit. Or they just don’t want to be passed. They speed up; they honk or flash their lights. Fucking maggots!
Then there’s the worst of all: The “enforcer”, the guy who will hold up a line of cars in the fast lane so he can make sure nobody is speeding. Once, just once, I’d like to be driving a James Bond equipped car when I’m behind an “enforcer”.
Oh yeah!
The upside is usually this person is an uber Clover and so, neither particularly bright nor particularly adept behind the wheel. The key is to lull the Clover into thinking you’re fine with being in his six. Wait for your moment. Don’t crowd him. And then, when the moment arrives – hit it! Blast past the Clover, smiling at him as you do.
OMG.. So I was out today putting some miles on the new engine, which by the way pulls like a tractor! Anyhow, going down a road in the middle of no where and was passing through the stupid ass “your speed is” permanent fixture signs. It was just clover and I on the road. He was about five car lengths in front me. The “your speed is” sign flashed that he was going 47 in a 45 and the dood fucking lit up his breaks. Honestly I was not quite ready for that, but just passed his ass.. Fucking shit!
It’s conditioning, mang! Not only are they programmed to cringe before any authority figure, they also believe those signs have power – they’re gonna get caught for speeeeeedding!
The only good thing about those signs is they reduce the “take” the cops extract out of the populace.
Enough people believe they’re monitored that they actually slow down, hence depriving the Stasi of their bounty.
I on the other hand take great pleasure seeing how high I can make them register.
I wonder if there’s some kind of “Bingo!” moment if you can roll them over into triple digits? Will it explode? Or just crash its feeble embedded processor-mind?
As I’ve mentioned, we live in a rural area. There is a section of the main road (a posted 55 mph rural highway) that is arrow-straight for about 3 miles. At the end of this section, the county cops sometimes erect one of those “your speed is” machines – complete with flashing red and blue cop lights, if you’re over. Now, this is a rural area – one often has the entire road to oneself. And it’s pretty easy to tell whether there are any cops around. If not, I’ve done the following:
Go home, get sport bike. Make sure the coast is clear by doing a drive-by at semi-legal speed. Turn around. Go back to the start of the three mile stretch. Now do a real run. On a high-performance bike (or in a high-performance car) it’s not too challenging to get to 170 or even faster. This really upsets the machine.
But it makes me real happy!
One other reason for slower drivers is fear of speeding tickets. Such fines are quite high here in southern Ontario (Canada). In addition, rising gas prices (gas is heavily taxed here) create an incentive to conserve fuel by driving more slowly. I used to drive the 100 km/h (~62 mph) 400-series highways at 140+ km/h (87+ mph)–such speeds are quite safe–but now I tend to cruise at about 110-115 km/h (68-71 mph); traffic here probably averages 110 km/h (68 mph), though sometimes it will move at 130+ km/h (81+ mph).
P.S. Your writing is good. I also admire your civility in responding to hostile comments. I found your site via LRC. My baby is a tweaked but stock-appearing 1998 Camaro SS.
I hear you, Steve (and thanks!)
This is why I got a top quality radar detector. Driving had become truly miserable here in the People’s Republic of Virginia. Now I can drive again. But I know it’s only a temporary thing. They are going to use GPS and other such technology to make it impossible to speed (or speed and get away with it) within 10 years at the outside.
GPS jammer, Eric:
Jammerall.com