Friday, April 24, 2009

Driving Fast is Not Speed Racing, Duh


Driving, probably one of the most relaxing things, in my own opinion. A nice drive going on a road trip somewhere always seems to bring some type of enjoyment for me. This spring break, I actually drove down to the Florida Keys to escape the stress of West Lafayette. I enjoyed the drive, my shift was the 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. During the Night drive, much of the road seemed to be as populated as a ghost town. Being a person who gets enjoyment out of driving, naturally I was speeding a little bit. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get to their destination a little faster, and its not like I was driving reckless.

Speeding
, seen as such a harmful things by the cops, but in all reality what’s the big deal? I mean, driving 75-85 on the highway, what’s wrong with that. In Europe people can travel up the maximum speed allowed by their car on the autobahn, usually though people travel going around 160. Its not like speeding is the leading cause of fatally, nor is even a top ranking killer. Crack kills, speeding doesn’t, but why do the officers act like we are hardened criminals when we speed?

A news article caught my eye today and was pretty amusing to me. Thursday, on Highway 18 in Oregon, a group of cars past a cop doing 100 mph in a 55. The group of cars consisted of Ferraris, a Lamborghini and an Acura NSX all participating in a road trip. After the officer clocked the drivers in the convoy, the officer decided he would be an amazing upholder of the law, and pull them over. After pulling out, the sixth car passed him like he was standing still. Fortunately for the officer, all of the cars pulled over simultaneously after being signaled by our lovely patrol man.

After talking to all of the drivers, the officer cited them for speed racing, which is a ticket that results in a $627 fine. Not to insult the officers intelligence, but that isn’t speed racing. A bunch of cars all traveling the same speed in a single line is driving, over the speed limit, (maybe even re-named reckless driving depending on the amount over the limit). I don’t know where the officer got the idea that they were speed racing, as it requires an opponent, usually done when there are two cars in two or more lanes and side by side each other.

I just don’t get the big deal about speeding, especially in Indiana. Since my time began here, I have ran into nothing but people driving five UNDER the speed limit. I was also previously pulled over on 52, and upon being pulled over, I was approached by the officer with his gun half way drawn. Are you serious? Doing 60 in a 55, and your gonna be prepared to draw your gun? Sorry if you were gonna be shot, the person wouldn’t wait till your camera has my license plate and I am stopped. So next time your speeding, watch out for the boys in blue wasting time not solving real crime and earning additional income for their city.

No comments:

Post a Comment