Quote:
Originally Posted by UFO
Yeah, it's amazing how I can catch up to cars on the freeway but the second I go to pass them we're both suddenly going the same speed. I'll flick the cruise control up a few MPH and, low and behold, we're still both doing the same speed. It's the same as merging, it's as if being passed will bring embarrassment on their family.
I have driven in quite a few other states in the US and I do have to agree that Houston is probably the worst place I have ever driven.
|
This could certainly be the "winning" mentality as someone mentioned. But that's assuming they're being intentionally malicious.
I think, at least around chicagoland, obliviousness is more likely the case. I call it parasitic speed control. Whatever the car next to them is doing, they do. You surely don't expect them to actively monitor their own speed, do you? That takes energy!
It's the reason you'll find yourself behind 2 cars, one in the right and one in the left lane, side by side, for miles and miles. It's not like they're sticking it at the speed limit and turning on cruise control, either. Sometimes their both doing 2mph under, sometimes 5 over. But nevertheless, they're stuck with each other. Lovers.
It's like a magnetic pull. I'll pass a guy doing 45mph at 50mph. He'll speed up as I go by and we'll be stuck. (because he loves me) But if I gas it real quick and put 20 lengths between us, all of a sudden he slows back down to 45mph and disappears behind me. PARASITIC SPEED CONTROL IS A THING I'm tellin ya!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver Cervy
Also, speeding is almost never the cause of an accident, unless it's some bozo doing 70-90 in a 45 or less, which rarely happens if at all. It's amazing how the government is convinced that speeding is connected to ignorant driving, when in most cases it's the fast drivers who are more aware of themselves and what's going on around them, meanwhile truly ignorant people are texting, eating, doing make-up, and doing all sorts of things while driving and they never get pulled over.
|
I don't even think the government thinks speeding is dangerous. They do know that they can make a ton of money by ticketing for it because so many people do it. So those laws will never change.
There's a good portion of the public that thinks speeding is dangerous, though! As (some) people get older, they get more timid and scared. They see someone fly by them on the highway, they get freaked out. I think that's what it comes down to. They're taken by surprise by something they don't understand and say "that person is going to kill someone." Unwarranted fear, but it's still fear. As long as there are old people, there will be people supporting lower speed limits.
Now back to bad drivers specifically in the US. Nah, humans gonna human. You'll find great drivers and crap drivers all over the world.
Drivers ed is certainly lacking in the states. Improvement there could help things a bit. I'd honestly push for a standardized autocross test to be mandatory for your license. Same car, same cone layout, same time limit. Nothing crazy, just something that proves you can maneuver a car in an emergency situation.