75 Speed Limit - How Fast

way2roll wrote:

Mike134 wrote:
I like the analogy about speed differences that was posted earlier. If you can't avoid a stalled car in the right hand lane on 4 lane road when driving at 20 mph, maybe it's you that doesn't belong on that road.

It's not really that simple. Accidents from people driving too slow are caused by a line of cars coming up behind that car going with the flow of traffic- each one further back in the flow with increasingly limited visibility to slow car. If the first car in the flow approaching the slower vehicle changes lanes quickly to avoid the slower car, there is now a greater risk of the remaining cars hitting the slower one or swerving and hitting someone else. Or slamming on their brakes and creating a chain reaction. It happens all the time. No one in a flow of traffic going 70 expects to come up on one going 50. And it's an unrealistic expectation that everyone needs to watch out for you because you decide it's better to go 20 mph slower than everyone else going the speed limit. You might be within the law but you have decided to be purposely slower than everyone else and invite risk as a result. There's a lot of criticality on here that the road is yours and I can go as fast as I want. Well I find that hypocritical. The approach that "I will go as slow as I want and everyone better watch out for me" is the same thing. The flow of traffic is statistically the safest. Being an outlier and going much faster or much slower than everyone else invites risk. It's how most accidents happen on highways.

And just exactly how is the reactions of other drivers different for a stopped car in 20 MPH traffic? The below average driver will witch for a minute about the obstruction, but most times, no paint is exchanged. But the "My snot is in good shape! I'm a great drive!" can't cope? All want to yell "Get Off My Road!"