>But what about their propensity to drive really slow?
You mean like a bicycle, moped, a new parent driving extra slow, an elderly driver, or any other street legal slow vehicle does?
I understand that drivers assume the speed LIMIT is a speed suggestion, and experience road rage when driving under the limit, but there is nothing -- nothing -- illegal or unsafe about staying under the speed limit.
If there is something unsafe about it, there should be a minimum posted speed (many places have this).
I've seen the result of a driver unexpectedly doing just over 35mph on a moderately busy 70mph motorway. Not nice. I don't even think 35mph is that much slower really - trucks are at 56mph and they get along fine but 35ish resulted in all sorts of crazy last minute swerves.
It's generally wise not to do anything other drivers will find surprising and I guess 35mph on a motorway falls in that category.
At least in the US you can get a ticket for going under the speed limit if it is deemed to be impeding traffic even if there is no posted minimum limit. Especially if it is a multi-lane road and you are not in the rightmost lane.
As a US citizen I will tell you this is false. We have basically no national traffic laws.
Your local state, city or other local government may have passed a law like this.
For example, in my area, it was made illegal to stay in the left lane moving more slowly than those behind you -- you must yield to the right if they want to go more quickly.
But some 99% of Americans do not live under this local law I'm discussing.
There are some highways that have a "minimum speed limit" sign posted. Not often, but they do exist, and you can get a ticket on those highways.
Also, a Google Self-driving car got pulled over the other day for simply going the speed limit, it did not get a ticket but I thought I would mention it.
You're right, it's not national. But as far as I'm aware, all states have general rules against impeding traffic. Many don't have explicit laws against moving too slow in the left lane, but the general law can and will be used against you for egregious violations.
Slowing down is the single most effective thing to reduce traffic accidents and injury. Not good for efficiency or smooth flow, sure. But can't claim its not safer.
> Slowing down is the single most effective thing to reduce traffic accidents and injury. Not good for efficiency or smooth flow, sure. But can't claim its not safer.
Go to any motorcycle riding school and all their instructors will teach you that riding slower than the traffic around you is more dangerous than maintaining the average traffic speed, even when above the legal speed limit.
Its a matter of degree; of course stopping on the freeway is not a good idea. Here's a stat:
Samuel C. Tignor and Davey Warren. "Driver Speed Behavior on U.S. Streets and Highways." Institute of Transportation Engineers: 1990 Compendium of Technical Papers, 1990 August, p. 85.
"The accident involvement rates on streets and highways in urban areas was highest for the slowest 5 percent of traffic, lowest for traffic in the 30 to 95 percentile range and increased for the fastest 5 percent of traffic."
Sure, I can make that claim. People driving slow, as you state, aren't good for smooth flow. Have you ever been driving at night at the speed limit and suddenly come upon someone going 15mph under? It's really dangerous.
True, but pot isn't making people do that. It's even more dangerous if people completely stop completely, or reverse, at night, on a curved stretch of highway with a 75mph speed limit, but pot isn't making people do that either.
I don't even think that pot makes people drive slowly. IMO it's a result of stoned people being afraid of giving the police any excuse to pull them over.
