David Roden said (in part): > The argument that driving under the limit creates a hazard is just plain > wrong. IF a hazard exists, it's created by drivers who can't control their > childish emotions and take stupid risks, such as tailgating and passing when > it's not safe. Get in an aircraft and watch traffic in detail (I've flown in aircraft being flown by a traffic reporting service so watching the traffic is what it's all about). You will change that opinion VERY fast. The vehicle driving faster than the flow of traffic does not substantially affect the traffic flow or other drivers. The faster vehicle simply goes around slower traffic as necessary. And no, I'm not talking about the guy going twice the flow of traffic who is creating a different hazard. On the other hand, one vehicle going below the flow of traffic becomes a major problem very quickly. Traffic backs up for surprisingly long distances and EVERYBODY is inconvenienced by having to slow down and lane change to get around the slow poke. Particularly if the slow poke is well below the flow of traffic, a normal speed driver can easily find that they end up a lot closer than expected because that slow poke is going SO slow. Tailgating and extra lane changes are leading causes of traffic collisions. Tailgating and unsafe lane changes happen regardless of the speeds involved. Even if the slow poke is not a safety hazard - they are a substantial annoyance to almost everyone else on the road. There are some states that do have minimum speed limits, but they are pretty much useless. Assuming the flow of traffic is 5 to 10 MPH above the speed limit (pretty normal around here on freeways), even someone driving AT the posted speed limit is a slow poke to the flow of traffic. A little hard to write a minimum speed law that says that the minimum speed limit is actually higher than the posted speed limit! Jim Walls
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