interesting...

funny...
when my first son was born I tried driving the speed limit
it did not take long for me to realize that this was a dangerous proposition

going the speed limit incited anger and aggression from the car drivers behind me
tailgating... honking... gesturing... angry faces
and of course
dangerous passing

I think that one person may have thrown something at my car when they passed me blindly on a twisty section of Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park
this sort of backlash helped me to decide to drive a rational speed
maintain traffic speed
never being the fastest on the road
never being the slowest on the road

yesterday driving down my street in a happy and healthy neighborhood pace car sort of way the car coming down the hill behind me did not slow
they came screaming down the hill and passed me
crossing the double yellow line at speed
not really taking enough time to access the situation

for a second I got angry and I got competitive
this effort lasted for a second
as I realized that I could not race the 6 cyclinder passat with my 4 cyclinder element
so... I went along my way allowing them to pass

I was the car behind them at the next red light
the car took a right hand turn
as it turns out
that was the same direction I was headed

obeying the law I was able to follow him
there may have been a moment where a car or two got in between us
then as he weaved his way through NW DC I just happened to find myself the next car behind him

as it turned out my destination just happened to be near where he was going

when he parked in front of his house we had a pleasant exchange
it was calm and polite
I do not know if he ever realized that I was behind him

I asked him why he passed me... then I asked him to be more respectful when driving his car
he apologized and I went on my way
the exchange was a little more than that... but that was the gist

we parted ways and I drove up the block and parked my car around the corner
this put me a block away from my dentist's office
with my car parked I walked to the dentist
then got worried that this driver would vandalize my car after I parked it around the corner from his house

drive with common sense
drive with common courtesy
that should be the effort of people behind the wheel

if people were to think before they act
well... the roads would be less chaotic
it is a mess because people are on auto pilot
acting without reason often just reacting instead of thinking and acting

NEIGHBORHOOD PACE CAR
www.waba.org

it would be nice if there was a new way of thinking when driving
maybe there should be a campaign to change the speed limits across the country to the speed that they want people to drive
asking people to drive 25MPH then allowing them to drive 45MPH does not work
this understood standard deviation is a flimsy backbone to the law

it gives the driver a sense that the regulations are modify-able
as if the speed limit is a speed recommendation