Slow Down but not That Much

I read an article in the news yesterday about the Police in Connecticut pulling over a driver for going too slow. Yes. You read right; for going too slow. So for those of your slower drivers out there who believe that driving below the speed limit in the passing lane is your right as a tax payer, be warned, you may be getting pulled over in the near future too. Now granted not everyone drives as slow as this guy was. He was doing 5 MPH in a 40 zone; add to that the fact that he was high on PCP and was driving without a license so for all intents and purposes, he was in trouble even before he left.

Now what does this have to do with driving speed? Well I think it highlights the fact that contrary to what many people believe, if you do drive slow enough, the police will take notice and will take action as well. I've been driving for over two decades and if there's one thing that I have found to be most dangerous is drivers who insist on driving at or below the speed limit in the passing lane or continue to be impediments to the flow of traffic just because they believe that they have the right to drive at whatever speed they desire. I remember discussions with some of my co-workers who believed that it was 'green' to keep cars going at the speed limit and to slow things down to make it safer and while that is true, people's concepts of what exactly is appropriately slower varies from person to person.

I have been known to drive at the speed limit (I know that may shock some of you) when I'm not in a particular rush but I've found more often than not, even the slowest of traffic on most major roads in the country are moving faster and so as to not stand out, I generally keep pace with the rest of traffic after seeing how the weather conditions are. After all, I have confidence in my driving skills but not to the point where I think I can drive a rear wheel drive sports car on ice without suffering any mishap. So then many people as why is it wrong to drive slow?

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, as long as your desire to slow down isn't endangering other vehicles on the road. When merging into traffic do your best to gauge the speed of the traffic you are joining. Don't automatically assume that the traffic will slow down to accommodate you. Keep pace with traffic or at least try to do so, at least that way you will reduce the chances of being rear-ended by someone going a bit faster and not expecting to find a vehicular island in the road ahead of them. And finally if you think that it will keep the police from hounding you after a night of drinking or drug usage? Think again. There's a driver in Connecticut who thought that and is now thinking up better ideas in prison.