Re: Poll on Speeding Tickets

["Justin Hughes" <ka1ult@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Mitchell, as the reputed most RABID of the RABID drivers, I'd love to take
>part in your poll.
>
>I get ZERO.  Yup, dat's right...zip-zilch-nada.


Same here, and many of my friends think I'm a maniac on the road.  Part of
it is the car - you look at my old Pontiac, or my current Mercury Tracer,
and you don't expect a car like that to be speeding.  A Porsche or Ferrari
can be going just as fast as me, but gain far more notice.  A BMW may fall
somewhere in between (I haven't driven mine enough yet to tell).

Another part is the way you drive.  Fast does not equal unsafe.  As Chris
observed, 75mph is not unusual on the highways of eastern Mass.  I've been
passed on both sides like I'm standing still while doing 75 in the middle
lane.  What I do is blend in with the high end of the average speed of
traffic.  If the three lanes are going roughly 60, 70, and 80, I'll
generally slip in line and go 80 with everyone else in the lane.  (There's
my paceline training from my bicycle racing days kicking in!)  What I won't
do is wait for a gap, then kick it up to 95 to pass the people in front of
me in the fast lane.  Speed like that will get noticed, and so will weaving
among lanes to get that extra boost.  Funny thing is, it's FASTER to just
sit in the fastest lane.  Countless people have ridden my bumper, sprinted
ahead of me on the right, then been stuck in slower traffic until they could
get back in my lane, usually several slots behind where they were before.

I don't claim that this is perfect.  I've been stopped a few times, and some
of them legitimately caught me speeding.  The fact that I my speed wasn't
unsafe for conditions probably saved me tickets - not to mention a good
attitude, and being polite to the officers, which also goes a long way.  The
only reason I have a radar detector is because the guy I just bought my 320i
from threw it into the deal as I was walking out the door with the keys. :)

    - Justin

------------------------------