Why does practically everyone break he speed limit and tailgate?

In socal it's required

If it's in neighborhoods or roads with people I'm pretty strict about following the limit. You get tailgated from time to time, but I find a reasonable number of drivers give me space if I'm in a residential area.

As a general rule, most people don't follow speed limits because they are ridiculously conservative. 65 mph across the flats or Oregon? 75 mph across Oklahoma? True speed limits from a safety perspective also vary by vehicle. If you're in an RV the limit of speed on a given road for safe driving is dramatically different than what it woud be for a G35 which again is different from what it would be for a Lamborghini.

The main reason speed limits exist, really in any place but especially on interstates, is because the typical driver does not pay attention and creates an overall mix that is hazardous. Part of the reason American drivers are so notoriously bad is that so many of them are not really "driving" their vehicle. They are jamming out to music, having discussions with passengers, listening to talk radio, etc. There is a reason places like Germany have sections with unlimited speed limits without issue. Something like that could never work with American driving culture, and thus speed limits to try and put a modicum of control.

It is really amusing to me that in general, especially for those in the left lane, there is a STRONG tendency to leave significantly less following distance the faster you are going.

As far as braking goes, a 2s following distance more or less ensures you will never need to touch your brakes on the interstate except in special circumstances. 3s obviously is smart from a safety standpoint, but probably not necessary to avoid crashes if you're an attentive driver.

To the OP. Keep driving the way you are now. I'm in my 50s and drive that way. Never have to worry about getting a speeding ticket. No accidents in 25 years. Cars blow by me on the way to the next town about 15 miles away. I'm usually right beside them by the third stop light. (Like the tortoise and hare story).

I think because they are not runners but because they wish they were.. they sit in their car and vroom vroom look at me im fast but lol they are delusional, they don't have what it takes to be a runner so they sit in their cars instead.

Because people are idiots and this fact isn’t changing anytime soon.

I’ll usually drive about 5 over except through residential where I’ll usually go 5 under. Without fail people will tailgate. It’s the only way to keep people going through a neighborhood at 40 mph.

I think it’s due to increased Home prices and skyrocketing rents which is causing the working crowd (including many in the millennial cohort) with poor retirement savings and salary prospects to have awful commutes (since they are forced to live further from major job centers where Home supply has been lagging and government infrastructure improvements haven’t kept up with population increases in 21st century). As a result, they get frustrated and would rather speed excessively and risk their lives and others’ lives in their POS vehicles to make as much in salary as possible. They fail to gain any knowledge as to how to invest in any real assets (stocks and real estate), and live paycheck to paycheck in the Trump economy while those of us in the know have seen our wealth grow substantially. Their life expectancy and quality of life probably won’t be much better than their parents’, sadly.

Ggjkjf wrote:

Because people are idiots and this fact isn’t changing anytime soon.

I’ll usually drive about 5 over except through residential where I’ll usually go 5 under. Without fail people will tailgate. It’s the only way to keep people going through a neighborhood at 40 mph.

self righteous prick, if you aren't going to go the speed limit then show some common courtesy and pull over.

you are being tailgated because you are driving too slow

by not adhering to the PREVAILING speed of traffic on a highway/freeway you are creating a higher variance of speeds on the freeway increasing the risk for ALL drivers.

Go 5-7 MPH over like a normal person (and the police) and quit being a dangerous nuisance on the road.

In residential zones, yeah use more caution drive as is prudent and the surroundings dictate.

I do not let other drivers control me. If they want to tailgate me it doesn't bother me, I will just simply slow down more to show them who the boss is (If I don't have anywhere to be in a hurry otherwise I will maintain the same speed I was)

If they do rear end me I will punch their face in.. I highly doubt they have a dash cam going if they are illegally tailgating people, unless they are a moron.

runnersworld1 wrote:

I do not let other drivers control me. If they want to tailgate me it doesn't bother me, I will just simply slow down more to show them who the boss is (If I don't have anywhere to be in a hurry otherwise I will maintain the same speed I was)

If they do rear end me I will punch their face in.. I highly doubt they have a dash cam going if they are illegally tailgating people, unless they are a moron.

Wow! Great Troll!

road obstruction wrote:

you are being tailgated because you are driving too slow

by not adhering to the PREVAILING speed of traffic on a highway/freeway you are creating a higher variance of speeds on the freeway increasing the risk for ALL drivers.

Go 5-7 MPH over like a normal person (and the police) and quit being a dangerous nuisance on the road.

In residential zones, yeah use more caution drive as is prudent and the surroundings dictate.

+1

Google seems agree and you'd think they have a significant stake in being right about this. Here's a quote from their lead Software Engineer in the self driving car division.

Please quit endangering others with your selfish driving habits.

Dmitri Dolgov told Reuters that when surrounding vehicles were breaking the speed limit, going more slowly could actually present a danger, and the Google car would accelerate to keep up.

Because we live in a society now that it's "all about me." Traffic laws mean nothing to most these of people - they speed like it's the Daytona 500 because of their "it's all about me" attitude.

90% of the time when I'm driving the speed limit in the slower right lane, I get bumped dafted like stock car racing. These idiots won't go in the faster left lanes (where people easily do 10-15 mph over the speed limit). I could never figure it out until I started noticing they all have a cell phone stuck in their face - they're completely obvious that they're tailgating!

And just last year I was T-boned & seriously injured by stupid idiot who ran the red light while texting his son to get a pizza for Monday Night Football. This idiot could have pulled over to do his texting...but no, the freaking idiot has to text while driving and I suffer the consequences with injuries that are affecting my running.

So, you see everyone it's a complete disaster out there with motorists and their "it's all about me" attitude. I lived in a major city now for almost 6 decades and it just gets worse every year. Overpopulation, stupid drivers texting, intoxicated/impaired drivers, drivers taking out their anger on other motorists, and the fact that DMV hands out driver's licenses to just anyone who can start a car = no hope for mankind!

The speed limit is usually set for an average Joe who is driving around without paying attention to anything. Most of the drivers are not concentrating on situation on the road ahead, their angle of vision is very narrow and mostly does not exceed 150 meters. This is the case not only in USA but all around Europe as well.

In my opinion speed limit is just an indication of road safety as are other factors. Depending on conditions and circumstances I , may go below allowed speed limit if it is necessary for safety (for example if I see bicyclist, kids playing beside street or animals wandering on their own) but mostly I am driving about up to 20-30 kph faster than allowed speed limit (it's the point above which fines for speeding become too expensive in my country).

I think more important than following speed limit is to focus on the situation on the road at all times and be able to predict how the situation unfolds. Your angle of view should be wide and you should be constantly monitoring situation at least 300-400 meters ahead of the car (of course in the urban areas it will be less). These are skills that come only with time and practice so young drivers should definitely stick to driving at speed which is safe for them and others.

Here where I live I am constantly stuck behind such drivers that usually drive slower than the allowed speed limit as in Europe the car speedometer shows around 10% higher speed than in reality you are driving thus everyone who is keeping exact allowed speed limit is actually driving about 10% below allowed speed limit.

It works pretty much like this: Anyone going slower than you are is an idiot and anyone going faster is a damn fool.

Just today I had a guy fly by me in the daycare parking lot. I told him he needs to slow down and he threatened to put me in the hospital. Yay Massachusetts.

If you drive in the left lane and are going "only" 5 to 10 mph over the MAX POSTED LEGAL SPEED LIMIT other drivers behind you freak the f out and act as if you were doing 20 mph UNDER the max speed limit. wtf?

pull the F over wrote:

Ggjkjf wrote:

Because people are idiots and this fact isn’t changing anytime soon.

I’ll usually drive about 5 over except through residential where I’ll usually go 5 under. Without fail people will tailgate. It’s the only way to keep people going through a neighborhood at 40 mph.

self righteous prick, if you aren't going to go the speed limit then show some common courtesy and pull over.

I drive in the slow lane, easy pace. If it’s a 2 lane road I’ll pull to the side on a turn out and let faster traffic pass, then I’ll get on the back of the pack, 1 car length behind for ever 10 mph. I’ve learned that if I’m late, speeding just adds stress and doesn’t save much time.

Years ago I rear ended a car and totaled mine only going about 40. Heavy rush hour traffic, looked to my right as there were 2 cars road raging each other then I hit the guy in front of me. Happened very fast, thankfully nobody was hurt, but definitely a life lesson.