Sometimes traffic flows better if everyone drives slower. Especially at peak times. There is an optimal speed at which a traffic jam will not form in certain circumstances.
Also air resistance increases with the squared of speed so higher speeds equal significant extra fuel consumption. I know a lot of folk don't care about that.
also if everyone would leave 3 to 5 car lengths (good breaking distance) between each other we could nearly eliminate traffic. its always that ass hole who has to be up everybody's bumper that's causing the traffic.
Also when all the lanes are not moving, and the one next to you moves before yours, you changing lanes just makes more traffic for the rest of us. But hey, you enjoy every bit of that one extra car length!
How long have you been driving? If you don't mind aging yourself.
Also ever consider that slick lane change at the last second so you could smoke em through the yellow, and lets be honest, probably more then a few reds, caused someone to brake hard in front of one of these other assholes watching tiktok driving down the road, and caused an accident.
Yea, you weren't in the accident, and the actual fault was the distracted guy, but you did initiate it, and may have done so dozens of times and you know, since you never see them again, have no idea it happened. Eventually a dash cam is gonna catch up with you.
About 7 years. And you've raised an important point! I am not telling people to execute slick lane changes. I have only spoken of not going below or strictly at the speed limit, preferably 5mph above. I do not change lanes hazardously, I am careful in maneuvering my vehicle. I am a defensive driver and I am always scanning my surroundings. I do not drive recklessly and without concern for the people around me, and I would argue that those who refuse to approach or pass the speed limit are being the most inconsiderate of other drivers. I don't mind people driving slowly until I get stuck behind them and they make me miss a light that has a long cycle, which then causes me to barely miss the next light, and the next light, and so on. Frustrating when a person driving 40/45 in a 50 makes you miss the next ten lights.
mmm, 7 years of probably 30-60 minutes of driving ~365 days a year is maybe 15k miles a year on average.
I've been doing that by about 20x for as long as you have been driving, almost exactly! Before then I've spent years doing delivery driving, driving various sorts of work trucks to job sites, hell I probably got 50k miles on a motorcycle, and probably 20k of them in the dirt. I can tell you with a lot of wisdom, that you are not actually saving that much time. You will in the long run save much more time by leaving 5 minutes earlier, then rushing through these lights. It will catch you up eventually.
It's not really the time aspect from start to finish of a trip. It's more like "damn I'm stuck at this light when I could have kept going, and now I have to idle for 3 minutes before wasting gas accelerating" etc. i am aware that when driving short distances, speeding does not make much of a difference. But my commute to work is nearly an hour one way, and to get stuck at lights the whole time because someone in front of me is driving under or exactly at the speed limit is infuriating. I also can't stand when people move slowly in congested places, such as amusement parks or grocery stores. I just hate being stuck behind slow people in general I suppose :)
I'd find a better route. There is almost always back roads. If the lights affect your commute this drastically, a technically longer route might save you time.
I live in a somewhat rural area and work in a very urban one (25 mile commute one way). Lights are unavoidable from any direction unfortunately, although as much as I can spend away from them I do! Good idea though :)
I drive the speed limit, under if no one is behind me, your risk of death increases exponentially the faster you go, your car runs optimal gas economy at 55, you should drive slower.
You can be safe and urgent. Many people who are driving too slow actually create less-than-safe driving conditions when they slow down the speed of traffic in their lane.
Not according to the driving ed. Driving with a sense of urgency increases your risk of having an accident.
And ironically, anything below 10mph is considered dangerous in proportional amounts to speeding lol
Did you ever watch Mythbusters' experiment on speeding? The amount of time you're saving is negligible. Even aggressive speeders aren't able to shave 2 or 3 minutes off their commute. Your driving habits honestly just increase the risk of collisions for nothing more than to satisfy your lack of patience.
I drive a large enough distance for the speeding to make a difference. It goes from a 45 minute drive to a 40 minute one. As long as I don't get stuck behind people going 5mph under the speed limit ;)
On open roads or highways, I get it... I go 5-10 mph over the speed limit... on roads I know and ones that I know are littered with cops. In-town driving... I will not speed... those limits are set for the safety of everyone in that area including pedestrians and children. I know when it's safe to speed and when I need to follow the traffic laws to a T.
That is not nearly what you said. You literally said people should only drive the speed limit during unusual circumstances... completely incorrect and unsafe.
I doubt this is because of speeding by 5mph lol. Probably due to distracted drivers who look at their phones, run red lights, drive drunk or high, and don't check their blind spots when changing lanes.
I have never seen a cop not speed. Not sure if there are regional differences, but every cop I drive near is speeding more than I am, by a good 10-25mph.
Boo never gotten pulled over for speeding, because cops pulling someone over for speeding by 5mph is likely rare. Cops in my area consistently speed 5-15mph depending on the area.
I completely agree with OP. Anyone who follows the exact speed limit makes me want to rip my head off out of frustration. Like, MOVE. Or at least drive in the right lane if you INSIST on going slow. Get out of the fast lane if you can't handle the pressure.
Respectfully, I disagree OP. People are too distracted in today's society and have too much road rage to have a sense of urgency. There is a reason why insurance is so expensive -people today are incredibly reckless at any speed but especially high speed.
I believe driving recklessly is a separate issue from speeding. If you are in a 40mph zone with winding roads and you speed to 65mph and crash, you were driving recklessly. You were speeding faster than your car could handle.
If you are in a 55mph zone and you are driving 60-65mph, monitoring your surroundings, checking your blind spots, and driving aggressively, I think you would be driving safely.
Hitting someone is usually from not giving yourself a large enough buffer, being distracted, not checking blind spots, etc., not from speeding by 5mph.
Speeding does absolutely nothing. I drive the speed limit everywhere. And trust me i like to go fast, no speedlimit on highways and stuff. But theres no point in it. It burns more gas, its more dangerous to you and others (reaction time, breaking distance, impact force) and its not even much faster. Everyone who overtakes me just ends up next to me at the next red light, or at best saved 2 mins of their time. No point
I drive on one of the least congested stretches of freeway in SoCal and invariably have to deal with the biggest idiots who feel they can't change over 3 lanes because "there's plenty of room". These are the people that make me speed. It happens daily and my reasons for going 10-15 miles over the speed limit is to avoid these people, get in that nice buffer between those people who are way ahead of me and those going slower.
Sometimes traffic flows better if everyone drives slower. Especially at peak times. There is an optimal speed at which a traffic jam will not form in certain circumstances.
Also air resistance increases with the squared of speed so higher speeds equal significant extra fuel consumption. I know a lot of folk don't care about that.
You have a good point. When there is extreme congestion, I wouldn't think everyone should speed.
Then realtime meters should be added telling you there are too many cars to speed anyway
also if everyone would leave 3 to 5 car lengths (good breaking distance) between each other we could nearly eliminate traffic. its always that ass hole who has to be up everybody's bumper that's causing the traffic.
Also when all the lanes are not moving, and the one next to you moves before yours, you changing lanes just makes more traffic for the rest of us. But hey, you enjoy every bit of that one extra car length!
Yeah, this is a dukb and dangerous take tbh
I always go 100MPH and run over every family I see in order to demonstrate superiority
Nvm wrong person
Same
Yet you will always be at the same red light as me 95% of the time
Who's having more fun tho?
I am with my low insurance rates
I've done this enough to consistently make it past people at lights. 5mph makes a huge differences when approaching a yellow.
Anywhere that has lights is somewhere you should drive the speed limit. Highways are a different matter.
Wow how do you have a license? You're a horrible driver who dangerously speeds
Haha I am not at all actually. Passed my drivers test with a perfect score. Never been pulled over. Never been in an accident. Never had a close call.
How long have you been driving? If you don't mind aging yourself.
Also ever consider that slick lane change at the last second so you could smoke em through the yellow, and lets be honest, probably more then a few reds, caused someone to brake hard in front of one of these other assholes watching tiktok driving down the road, and caused an accident.
Yea, you weren't in the accident, and the actual fault was the distracted guy, but you did initiate it, and may have done so dozens of times and you know, since you never see them again, have no idea it happened. Eventually a dash cam is gonna catch up with you.
About 7 years. And you've raised an important point! I am not telling people to execute slick lane changes. I have only spoken of not going below or strictly at the speed limit, preferably 5mph above. I do not change lanes hazardously, I am careful in maneuvering my vehicle. I am a defensive driver and I am always scanning my surroundings. I do not drive recklessly and without concern for the people around me, and I would argue that those who refuse to approach or pass the speed limit are being the most inconsiderate of other drivers. I don't mind people driving slowly until I get stuck behind them and they make me miss a light that has a long cycle, which then causes me to barely miss the next light, and the next light, and so on. Frustrating when a person driving 40/45 in a 50 makes you miss the next ten lights.
mmm, 7 years of probably 30-60 minutes of driving ~365 days a year is maybe 15k miles a year on average.
I've been doing that by about 20x for as long as you have been driving, almost exactly! Before then I've spent years doing delivery driving, driving various sorts of work trucks to job sites, hell I probably got 50k miles on a motorcycle, and probably 20k of them in the dirt. I can tell you with a lot of wisdom, that you are not actually saving that much time. You will in the long run save much more time by leaving 5 minutes earlier, then rushing through these lights. It will catch you up eventually.
It's not really the time aspect from start to finish of a trip. It's more like "damn I'm stuck at this light when I could have kept going, and now I have to idle for 3 minutes before wasting gas accelerating" etc. i am aware that when driving short distances, speeding does not make much of a difference. But my commute to work is nearly an hour one way, and to get stuck at lights the whole time because someone in front of me is driving under or exactly at the speed limit is infuriating. I also can't stand when people move slowly in congested places, such as amusement parks or grocery stores. I just hate being stuck behind slow people in general I suppose :)
I'd find a better route. There is almost always back roads. If the lights affect your commute this drastically, a technically longer route might save you time.
I live in a somewhat rural area and work in a very urban one (25 mile commute one way). Lights are unavoidable from any direction unfortunately, although as much as I can spend away from them I do! Good idea though :)
Be honest, it works like 10% of the time. Keep track of all the people you pass/cutoff and how far they are from you at the next red
I do, and I usually never see them again, to be honest.
my dad says this too… i hate to spoil it for you but it's closer to 5% than 95%
I drive the speed limit, under if no one is behind me, your risk of death increases exponentially the faster you go, your car runs optimal gas economy at 55, you should drive slower.
Bit of an oxymoron there, eh?
You can be safe and urgent. Many people who are driving too slow actually create less-than-safe driving conditions when they slow down the speed of traffic in their lane.
Not according to the driving ed. Driving with a sense of urgency increases your risk of having an accident.
And ironically, anything below 10mph is considered dangerous in proportional amounts to speeding lol
Did you ever watch Mythbusters' experiment on speeding? The amount of time you're saving is negligible. Even aggressive speeders aren't able to shave 2 or 3 minutes off their commute. Your driving habits honestly just increase the risk of collisions for nothing more than to satisfy your lack of patience.
I shave 5 minutes off my commute every day.
Sure you do, buddy.
I drive a large enough distance for the speeding to make a difference. It goes from a 45 minute drive to a 40 minute one. As long as I don't get stuck behind people going 5mph under the speed limit ;)
Even if you did, for what purpose? At what risk? Just leave 5 minutes earlier
Efficiency and despising sitting at lights that take 3 minutes to turn back to green.
Sounds like the kind of driving that starts the road rage doesn't it?
Yeah, people should get off the road and learn to drive if they don't know how to at least drive the speed limit.
"People should drive in an unsafe way because I do."
5 over in town, 10 over on the highway, derigueur.
On open roads or highways, I get it... I go 5-10 mph over the speed limit... on roads I know and ones that I know are littered with cops. In-town driving... I will not speed... those limits are set for the safety of everyone in that area including pedestrians and children. I know when it's safe to speed and when I need to follow the traffic laws to a T.
I am mostly referring to open roads, highways, and freeways. You got it!
That is not nearly what you said. You literally said people should only drive the speed limit during unusual circumstances... completely incorrect and unsafe.
I found the person who yelled at me for going the speed limit past a police station
Twas I!
lol
Who gets to decide if you're "speeding safely"? It'd be chaos.
5mph is speeding safely.
Prove it in a court of law
Car accidents are literally one of the leading causes of death in America (usa). Shocking isn't it.
I doubt this is because of speeding by 5mph lol. Probably due to distracted drivers who look at their phones, run red lights, drive drunk or high, and don't check their blind spots when changing lanes.
Yes officer, this guy right here. Just follow them around a bunch and you'll make bank!
I have never seen a cop not speed. Not sure if there are regional differences, but every cop I drive near is speeding more than I am, by a good 10-25mph.
I drive the speed limit always, it just helps that speeding morons get mad about it
Urgency and safety...somehow those two words just don't go with each other.
Speed limit on open roads makes no sense. It just inconveniences people.
Cue the assholes who think they're deputized to enforce the speed limit by cruising at the speed limit in the left lane.
ugh god just NO
I agree with everything except the actual speed limit. I don't mind that, but please get into the right lane or middle lane.
I think this is where aggressive driving is OK under the right weather conditions.
I do
I'm not getting a $150-$300 ticket because you're impatient.
Get mad.
Boo never gotten pulled over for speeding, because cops pulling someone over for speeding by 5mph is likely rare. Cops in my area consistently speed 5-15mph depending on the area.
So because you've never been pulled over for it, it never happens. Gotcha.
Not what I said! :) I even used easy words like "likely" and "rarely" to denote uncertainty and outliers.
But what's the point? If they raised the speedlimit by 5, would you be happy with it or insist on 5 over that?
It depends. Freeway? Probably. Many people already speed by 20mph where I'm from. If the road is extremely curvy, no.
I completely agree with OP. Anyone who follows the exact speed limit makes me want to rip my head off out of frustration. Like, MOVE. Or at least drive in the right lane if you INSIST on going slow. Get out of the fast lane if you can't handle the pressure.
Thank you! Don't get me started on when idiots stay side by side on a two lane road not allowing anyone to pass on either side. So annoying!
Respectfully, I disagree OP. People are too distracted in today's society and have too much road rage to have a sense of urgency. There is a reason why insurance is so expensive -people today are incredibly reckless at any speed but especially high speed.
I believe driving recklessly is a separate issue from speeding. If you are in a 40mph zone with winding roads and you speed to 65mph and crash, you were driving recklessly. You were speeding faster than your car could handle.
If you are in a 55mph zone and you are driving 60-65mph, monitoring your surroundings, checking your blind spots, and driving aggressively, I think you would be driving safely.
Speed limits are not a suggestion and yeah 5 mph is also a big difference for the person you're hitting
Hitting someone is usually from not giving yourself a large enough buffer, being distracted, not checking blind spots, etc., not from speeding by 5mph.
Employer monitors speed and I get paid by the hour so when I'm at work I'm doing speed limit
How much value would that really offer?
A lot. Less frustration. People who go 5-10mph under the speed limit make it even worse.
Well this makes me nervous
Speeding does absolutely nothing. I drive the speed limit everywhere. And trust me i like to go fast, no speedlimit on highways and stuff. But theres no point in it. It burns more gas, its more dangerous to you and others (reaction time, breaking distance, impact force) and its not even much faster. Everyone who overtakes me just ends up next to me at the next red light, or at best saved 2 mins of their time. No point
I drive on one of the least congested stretches of freeway in SoCal and invariably have to deal with the biggest idiots who feel they can't change over 3 lanes because "there's plenty of room". These are the people that make me speed. It happens daily and my reasons for going 10-15 miles over the speed limit is to avoid these people, get in that nice buffer between those people who are way ahead of me and those going slower.