Tag: speeding

Comfortable Driving Speeds: Finding Your Sweet Spot

~ SA Otey
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What is the fastest you feel comfortable driving? To me, it depends on the vehicle. In my current automobile, I can look down and not realize that I’m going 90mph because of the smoothness. However, in my 1991 Honda Civic, I got up to 120mph and it felt like the paint was shaking off. Sometimes keeping up with the flow of traffic even feels dangerous.

Typically I hover around 75 to 80mph, but there is always that one guy who’s in a hurry. I mean, I’m going 90mph and they are riding my bumper. I can’t even see their headlights! That is until they start swerving over the lines to get my attention in the side mirrors that I’m going too slow for them. I’m getting to the point where I move to the far right-hand lane and set the cruise control and enjoy the increased gas mileage. It’s a bonus if you can draft behind an 18 wheeler.

Those dreams are dashed as soon as you run up on someone doing 10 mph under. Then you have to release the cruise control and manually work the gas pedals and try to merge into the concrete jet stream of cars so you can get back to your coefficient drag.

Drive like your kids live here.

~ SA Otey ~ 1 Comment
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The phrase “Drive like your kid lives here” is meaningless. It’s targeted at people who drive highway speeds in neighborhoods. Speed humps and bumps don’t slow them down either because they have no regard for human life. They ignore stop signs and roll right through them. Sadly, it takes a tragedy before any safety measures are put in place. Here are a couple of ideas to deal with neighborhood speeders.

  • Roll a basketball into the street as they drive past.
  • Set up a lawn chair in the front yard and point a hair dryer at them and look at your smartphone as they drive past.
  • Draw elaborate potholes on the street in front of your house with sidewalk chalk.
  • Rig up a child mannequin on a pulley system (work with your neighbors) so that it darts out in front of the car as they speed past. Bonus points if you fill it with red corn syrup.

Yeah, maybe don’t do that last one, it might be too traumatic, and you might get questioned on why you own a child mannequin.