CarolC, you said:

the vast majority of people who like to drive fast are bad drivers.........

........You may be an excellent driver. But if you are, you are not in the majority when it comes to people who like to drive fast.

Rather sweeping generalisations there! On what facts do you base these statements?


Captain Ginger, little Hawk said:

Captain Ginger, the primary reason why I usually exceed the local speed limits by 5 or 10 per cent is because that's what the rest of the traffic around me is doing and it's safer for me to drive around the same speed as the general flow of traffic.

and you replied with:

The "everyone does it, so I have to" argument is plain childish - it carries all the conviction of standing there surrounded by shards of broken glass and saying with a quivering lip "some big boy did it and ran away."

Note, he was saying it was safer that way, not your interpretation of it as 'childish'. I'm sure you can see the difference.


Having said all that, I don't think I've ever done 100 - not because I don't think I'm a good enough driver, but because:

a) I don't think our roads in Oz are good enough - even the freeways.
b) Although my car is in good mechanical condition and is regularly checked, it is 13 years old and there is a slight chance that things can go wrong unexpectedly and I'd rather not have them happen at a speed like that.
c) We do get wildlife wander onto the road occasionally - particularly wombats, and there is an element of unpredictability there.
d) There are other possible things one could come across, such as broken down vehicles, stupid drivers, branches or rocks on the road, dead animals etc etc that I would rather not find at that speed.

The speed limit on our freeways here is 110 km per hour, which is only 60 mph. The general flow of traffic on them is maybe 120 - 130 km per hour (72 - 78 mph), so I'm comfortable around that range normally - slower than some of the maniacs but faster than the road hogs. I may have momentarily hit 150 - 160 (90 - 96) but I don't stay at that speed for long because of possible consequences in the back of my mind. When the speed cameras are around (and we do have a lot of them) I'll drop back to the limit, but then I find everybody is going past me.

I still say that being aware of conditions around me and driving to suit them while being considerate of other drivers and 'blending in' with the flow of traffic is the safest way to drive.

Something else nobody has mentioned is the importance of your emotional state. Being angry or upset affects one's judgment unfavourably. Road rage is dangerous. I try to be in a positive and relaxed frame of mind when I drive, and not let the 'turkeys' get to me. I also try to avoid driving when I am short of sleep. That can be a killer.