I love the Jeff Gordon wannabes who tear through traffic at 20 - 30 mph over the limit, weaving into lane after lane, barrelling down the freeway like their butt’s on fire, then risk life and limb to dart across four lanes of traffic and take the off ramp.
Or the schmuck who charges out in front of you, forcing you to slam on the brakes to avoid t-boning him as he pulls out from a side street, then pokes along at 10 mph under the speed limit. You look in your rearview mirror and there’s not another car within sight. All he had to do was wait for you to get past and he could have poked to his heart’s content.
Or the Johnny Good Citizen who sees the speed limit posted at 40 mph and no force on earth or in Heaven could impel him to go 1 mph faster, even though the road is clear from here to Des Moines.
Generally agree with you. Don’t forget, though, there are more people who believe no speed limit sign applies to them than those who follow it.
The cops usually forgive 5mph or so. I had somebody zooming up on my tail and instinctively sped up about 5 mph thinking I was in a 35. I wasn’t - it was a 30 and I got nailed just over 40. Oops.
I HATE the Johnny Good Citizens. I wish cars came equipped with rocket launchers just for them.
Conversely, I've found that (if I can do it), 5-10 mph faster than ambient traffic speed allows me to work through the assembling "clots" (author's usage), build a cushion between me and the Thundering Herd in my rearview, and allow me to settle at a sensible speed just a little above the rest of traffic -- but I've got to get there first. That, or just hang back in the granny lane and let the rest of them fight it out up front. Assuming I can duck a jackknife.
Best personal accident-avoidance story: one night a few days before Christmas, I finished my shopping at a certain kids' store and headed home on Houston's I-610 West Loop in a steady rain. Atop an overpass "hump", a Volvo two lanes to my left in the showoff lane suddenly began to spin gently, hydroplaning (using cruise control in the rain?), bounced off the median retaining wall, collected the guy in the middle lane just ahead of me, and then both of them , now rotating faster, took out the car that had been about four car-lengths ahead of me but had slowed down when he saw the Volvo's revolving headlights. I began braking as best my tires would permit, and the whole mass crossed my lane and the breakdown lane together and sailed off down a long, green embankment on the right (they were lucky: plenty of drop-offs along there). I kept going and didn't try to stop.
Ever since then I've hated driving door-to-door with other vehicles in the rain, much preferring to hang back or go around them.
**Or the Johnny Good Citizen who sees the speed limit posted at 40 mph and no force on earth or in Heaven could impel him to go 1 mph faster, even though the road is clear from here to Des Moines.**
And this person is driving a Subaru, 9/10 :)