Everybody exceeds the speed limit from time to time. There are many reasons for speeding and why people do it. You’re in a rush to get home or maybe you are in a rush to get the hell out of the house because she is throwing all your s#!* at you! For whatever the reason, speeding seems to be necessary. We have all been in these situations where you are stopped at a red light and the car next to you takes off like a bat out of hell as soon as the light turns green. One block down the road, the light has turned red and you catch up to that speed demon at the next intersection and you glance over at them and think “what a dumb ass.” Or you approach a light that has just turned red and you look at the cars already stopped and you get behind the one that you think will be the fastest one out of the gate. It’s like a cat and mouse game out there, we speed and the cops try to catch us, using everything from radar guns to unmarked police cars, aircraft, cameras and even bicycle cops. Nothing is more embarrassing than being pulled over by a guy with a helmet. So why does everyone go over the speed limit? “If the government didn’t want us to speed then they shouldn’t allow automobile manufactures to make car that go so fast!” That was an actual statement by one of my defensive driving students! “If everyone obeyed the posted speed limits, towns across America would turn into ghost towns because of lost revenue.” That was another statement by another one of my students, who I suspect was under the influence of Mary Jane, but I think there is some truth to that. If you are driving five or seven over the limit on the highway and you haven’t been drinking alcohol and you are not being distracted, are you really public enemy number one, probably not.
Join me again next week and we will talk about ways to get out of a speeding ticket. Until then…
Take care and be safe-
Danny Keaton