subject: Knowing When To Slow Down [print this page] Looking back, I am not entirely sure why I was in such a rush to get anywhere. I was always early to appointments, practices and other engagements in which my attendance was required. So, then why would I need to speed? I have no idea. If anything, nowadays, I find myself asking aloud why other drivers around me are in such a rush. It is not unusual for me to be doing maybe five or ten miles over the posted speed limit and find that I have one or more cars tailgating me like crazy. I will then usually slow down in an effort to force them to go around me, which they are always more than happy to do.
It seems that, as a society, we are in a rush to get nowhere fast. Perhaps you really have to use the bathroom, your wife is having a baby or you just realized that your favorite TV show is starting in a few minutes. However, whatever the case may be, speeding is not going to really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. In the end, all that you wind up doing is wasting a lot of gasoline and risking the chance of getting a speeding ticket. Besides this, speeding often makes slower drivers nervous because to them you are extremely unpredictable. It's akin to a situation in which you see an ambulance speeding towards you as it approaches from behind. The lights and sirens are blaring, and suddenly you become a deer frozen in headlights. We all know (or at least, we're supposed to) that we are required by law to move to the right hand side of the road and come to a complete stop for emergency vehicles such as ambulances and police officers. However, what is it that most of us wind up doing? The exact opposite. Instead, I often see drivers who look confused or nervous as they try to anticipate which way the ambulance is trying to go. As they are doing this, they almost always wind up moving into the path of the ambulance, thus getting in the way and delaying the emergency response of the vehicle. In other cases, people are speeding and blasting music and never even seem to hear emergency vehicles approaching!
Slowing down is beneficial not only for your bank account, but it makes the roads much safer for other motorists and pedestrians as well.
