answer.
But most of us believe we are a better driver than most and many drivers have never had an accident. That alone cannot justify ignoring the law, obviously. I am sure Flecc has a more solid reason than that!
Thanks for that reasoned response Lemmy. Yes i do have a solid reason, and I've alluded to it twice in this thread and previously.
It's not about saving time, as you say, that would be trivial. It's about attentiveness.
The best state to drive in is fully attentive to everything the other side of the glass in all directions at all times. The problem is in maintaining that on the longer boring journeys, especially if they are familiar ones and routine. All experienced drivers will be familiar with the phenomenon of coming to certain point on a routine journey and realising they have no recollection of a large part of the journey to that point. Obviously they've been able to safely drive on "auto" with nothing untoward happening, but what would happen in such circumstances if something dangerous suddenly happened?
The probability is that they'd be yet another of the drivers unable to account for the accident that resulted, saying such things as "it came from nowhere", "it was too sudden to tell", "I didn't see where he came from". These are the sort of things that happen when driving at the moderate speeds which encourage the attention to wander through the mind not being fully occupied with the driving function.
Conversely, driving at the absolute limit with no safety margin whatsoever is dangerous, but between the two lies the point that keeps one fully alert and attentive with the mind occupied enough with the driving function, if at times only to watch out for police and speed measuring devices. That's the way I like to cover those long and boring journeys, using my ability as far as possible commensurate with an adequate safety margin, and that inevitably means higher than legal speeds.
When someone is with me for the first time when I'm driving, they might even be a little scared at first, but they soon relax once they see the other side of the coin, my very high level of courtesy on the roads. I give a high priority to pedestrians, especially mothers with prams and small children. I give priority to public transport since it's serving many, not just the selfishness of my using a personal car. I often give priority to working drivers in vans etc, helping them get out of side roads for example, for I know just how difficult their schedules can be.
None of these preclude the use of speed with a high level of attentiveness, quite the opposite in fact, for I have to be very attentive to be prepared in time to serve the needs of others.
That's the outline of the way I use the roads, and I do know better than government what is best for me and in relation to others with regard to road safety. I might have more respect for government if it didn't so often ignore the sensible advice of it's own Road Transport Research laboratory, but it does so many times, preferring instead their own bigotry as so many in here do as well.
Finally, look at this evidence regarding obedience to the law. Germany is a famously subservient nation, it's citizens tut-tutting at anyone infringing the law, but very few doing that since obedience is a national characteristic. Italy by contrast just as famously widely ignores all laws, for example it's compulsory to wear crash helmets on motorcycles and mopeds, but very few do and the police take no notice. Kids as young as 8 ride mini-mopeds with the police taking no notice, and even their president is widely regarded as a crook and is awaiting trial.
They've both averaged around 9 road deaths per 100,000 of population, amply showing that one's respect for the law makes little difference to the outcome.
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