So it’s the the people who drive slow that cause all the accidents?
No, it’s the people who drive badly that cause all the accidents. A good, fast driver is still a good driver and a bad, slow driver is still a bad driver. The difference between them is that a good driver has the skill and judgment to drive fast safely whereas a bad driver doesn’t. What infuriates me is the notion that everyone should slow down to the pace of the most inept, lazy slob on the road. We should, instead, be pressuring the slobs to improve.
Maybe we should break that news to the insurance companies so that they can correct their premiums to give lower rates to drivers of high performance cars.
I don’t know about your insurance company, but mine bases rates for liability insurance on your driving history, not on what you drive. Collision and comprehensive cost more for a Ferrari than for an old Honda only because the Ferrari is more expensive to repair and the total amount at risk is higher.
NASCAR crashes
Those guys crash because, to win, they have to live on the ragged edge of control. That’s not appropriate for public roads and not what I’m talking about. On the other hand, it’s not necessary to creep along like an arthritic snail.
I just spend a lot less time … waiting for red lights to turn green.
Good drivers try to schedule their arrival at the next light when it is green. Bad drivers don’t pay attention.
Most of my daily commute is on interstate highways. There are always slowpokes scattered all over the road. Until traffic volume gets moderately heavy, there is room to get around them. If the slowpokes would keep up or at least stay to the right and out of the way, faster traffic would flow freely and there would be no congestion.
I have figured out that the optimum time to leave for work is 40 minutes before I’m due there. Although I can still arrive in time if I leave only 30 minutes before, my time on the road is longer because traffic is heavier. Leaving 50 minutes before doesn’t work very well either. (I have never figured out whether this is because of a mini-burst of people with an earlier work schedule or if I’m being held up by people who leave extra early so they can drive slower.) Fine tuning your schedule this way is another mark of a good driver.
To continue with the sink analogy, slowpokes on the road are like a partial clog in the drain.