I was cruising from my new house in the country down a 2 lane road that has a speed limit of 60 mph. Soon enough 2 cars catch up with me so I figure I'll bump it up to 64-65 mph as not to be the rude hybrid holding up traffic. Pretty soon I am now holding up SEVEN cars all while doing 5 mph OVER the speed limit! Once we get up to a long straight away I stay right so the car can safely see around to pass as they are in such a hurry and sure enough ZOOOOOM....a Nissan SE-R tears by, he had to been doing around 80+mph. Sure enough the one oncoming car was a state trooper.

Once the trooper was turned around all the cars in the line behind me pulled over to let him pass, I did too. By the time I caught up with the trooper he was already out of his car walking up to the speeder. As I passed, the trooper turned to me and gave a "hidden" (to the SE-R driver) wave and big smile and I gave a . Once I was passed he turned to the car and had a stern angry look on his face as I looked in the rear view mirror. This reminded me of basic training as to how the T.I./D.I's are always so mean but when out of their element they become human beings. Funny.

I can't help but think the guy in SE-R thinks it is MY fault he got a ticket, like I MADE him drive that fast. Actually I KNOW that is probably what he thinks as I used to have that same mindset. My how times have changed.

What I can't get over is all the people going sooo fast over the limit on this road that's always laced with troopers & county cops. Not only do you get caught speeding which you have a ticket to pay, your insurance rates go up because you're a higher risk as a speeder and you just use more gas (which everyone here knows, duh). Anyway, it was good to see someone get caught - I think the troopers are getting used to seeing my car on this particular road.

 

Funny how when you finally simmer down and quit speeding, you quit getting speeding tickets! I kept 2 speeding tickets on my record at all times for years. My next ticket will be for a "slow and go" instead of coming to a full stop. Already got a warning.....

Hypermileing can be so scandalous!!!

 

I wish you had pictures of this, rigger.

I'm just fearful enough of the officer not to do this, but my fantasy in this situation is for onlookers to rolldown their window and in the most gravely barroom voice possible, scream:

It might shame a few - others are too far lost but deserve humiliation beyond the man in blue.

It's my belief that a lot of the speeding is not to meet deadlines. Much of it is keeping up with the pack, competing with the pack, habitual behavior, "proving manhood".

 

You forgot "trying to keep from getting run over," which was my fault and mistake when I got my first-ever ticket last October. 43mph in my Toyota Corolla in a 30mph zone no one follows, no even the police officers whose substation the zone is ostensibly for (so they can get in/out easier.) Needless to say, I now drive 30mph there (ok, 35 if I'm in the Corolla; 30 is easier to handle in the Ford Escape Hybrid and I can't see the hand gestures and expressions on the people behind me who have to drive 40+mph like I used to.)

Painful lesson about how much of an aggressive driver I had turned into since receiving my license all those years ago (I'm 32. I should know better. I didn't. The hybrid's reforming me quite well, and in a rewarding fashion, eg. higher fuel economy, less stress.)

My dad followed suit several months later, getting a ticket for failing to stop for a stopped school bus with its STOP sign extended. He made the somewhat horrific mistake of honestly stating, "I can usually get by before it stops completely... I misjudged it this time." Officer didn't think that was funny, so boom, $600+ ticket that couldn't be expunged from one's record like my speeding ticket did (in Texas, if you're an otherwise spotless driver, you can take driver's (re-)education and expunge a 'minor' ticket from your record, which is what I did. I don't plan on ever getting another ticket. I'm secretly hoping my mom does someday... she's the most aggressive driver I know -- she drives a '97 Chevy Camaro with an exhaust mod (her idea!) to make it sound louder (hurts my ears to ride with her, and she wonders why her hearing is failing!!!!) and she has disabled plates (legitamitely -- 20+ years of Rheumatoid Arthritis is debilitating.)

Oddly enough, the family member who has had the most *accidents* (my brother -- all someone else's fault, including the one that totalled a Chevy Cordoba he was driving), hasn't had a ticket in over 8 years. Maybe that isn't so odd, actually... experience the results of poor driving, inattention, etc. first hand a couple times, and you probably find religion real quick!

Here's to better driving, hybrid and non- alike. We all can do better, probably. I try not to gloat when passing a pulled over speeder anymore. Karma, and all that.

 

I'd peg "trying to keep from getting run over" with "keeping up with the pack".

I drove aggressively before getting my Insight, and still needed a couple of years to completely get over it.

Speeding tickets happen a lot easier off the freeway. Of course, it's more dangerous for officers to pull over on the freeway. But it seems that many people leave the freeway and forget to slow down.

 

Even if it is, it's not my fault that the guy (or girl) riding my bumper is running late. Maybe he (or she) should have started his (or her) trip a little earlier.

 

Agreed.

I've met a number of people with this "I'm a busy professional" line that use it as an excuse to run over people, be it the workplace or highway - bullying.

 

Reminds me of something a high school teacher of mine used to say, "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!"

Too true!

 

Not to get all preachy, but the number of children killed by drivers who think that is rather distressing. Not that long ago there was a story locally about a 12 year old girl who got run over by two drivers. The first driver was too intoxicated to stop, and was driving on a suspended licence, and the second one was late for a meeting and didn't want to stop, especially since the first vehicle didn't. Both, last I heard, were up for some pretty serious criminal charges. A 600 dollar ticket is nothing compared to killing a child. (And like it or not, sometimes they get off the bus and are crossing in front of it before the stop is fully extended.)

Today I saw someone who I'm going to nominate for the dumbest person ever award. Coming home back to MI from SC, on the Ohio turnpike, a guy blew past me, going at least 90 MPH. 2 miles down the road, I moved over from the right lane, to go past the officer who had pulled him over. five minutes later, the same guy blows past me, going at least 90 MPH. 4 miles down the road, I pass him and the officer walking out to him. I suspect, given Ohio's policies, that he probably didn't drive after that.

 

I shared it to highlight how easy it is to fall into an "it's not a problem" line of reasoning, not to harp on my dad who is ordinarily a very good (albeit more aggressive at accelerating -- it is a Mustang GT, after all) driver. We all do stupid or dangerous things, sometimes... some people get lucky, and get a ticket or other meaningful warning, others sadly take or lose a life.