Quote:
Originally Posted by Z06 Rocket
Except that drunk that just left a bar and is doing 30 mph and swervinig all over the 4 lanes because he is afraid if he speeds the cops will stop him.... Ahh, but what is a 100 mph difference in speed? No biggie right? That's if he doesn't get on the incorrect ramp and head straight towards you. Even a super skilled driver such as yourself can't react to his 60 mph opposite your 130 mph (giving you a 190 mph closing speed).
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And don't forget the 747, whose fuel tanks were accidentally filled with nitro-glycerin, causing the engines to explode sending the aircraft plummeting towards my impact zone with the drunk driver. At the same time, a locomotive pulling radioactive waste speeds out of control when the operators all suffer freak heart attacks. And then they hit a penny on the track, and come plummeting through the air towards the aforementioned impact zone. And just as all of these objects collide, my body spontaneously combusted.
Anything could happen at any time to end somebody's life. On I4, when I'm speeding there are only objects coming at me in one direction that I need to worry about. When I'm on the cruise control at 65, I have to worry about the jackass in the SUV going 90mph weaving through traffic while texting. No matter how fast I am going in my car I never weave through traffic. Speeding may not be "lawful", and I may not be a "super skilled driver" as you put it. But I never endanger anyone but myself, I am ready to (and have in the past) aim for a tree if I have to, to avoid hitting another car.
As for the police part, you are kind of right. You know nothing of highway cops if you honestly think they limit themselves to 70 though. Cruising along,
if there are cars other than me out there, the patrol cars are easy to spot. If there is suddenly a group of cars and none of them will pass the lead car, cop. If one of the cars is passing all the other cars, cutting through whatever traffic there is, it's either a cop or an idiot driver. They seem to like sitting in the median between exits 48 and 55, across from the sign that says it's 53 miles to Tampa and 71 miles to St. Pete, so I know where the speed traps are. Speed traps are limited by the fact that the radar vehicle and the one that pull you over are either the same car, or stationary in the same spot. And you don't need to worry about the cops going in the opposite direction, they can't personally do anything.
However, if they get behind me and match speed, I pull over. It's that simple. But any other situation, at those speeds... you said it yourself with the braking distances. You don't have to run from the cops, you just have to maintain speed. If a cop is behind you with his lights on, he wants you to pull over. Otherwise, as far as I know he's just responding to an armed robbery somewhere in my general direction. It's not my problem if he's out of sight by the time he can get going...
Now, all of that said, I've just pulled over and waited before. As little respect as I have for the "law" in general, and as untrusting of LEOs as I am and always will be, that doesn't mean that I want to see them get hurt. So if I feel that I am in a situation where I can't disappear before he starts getting aggressive, then I will pull over. However, don't take the end of my last post as a reinforcement of your points. What I was trying to say is that I feel safer going 100mph than I do 60. It's a sad thing that I feel that way, but that's beyond the topic of this (already sidetracked) thread.
EDIT: I realize that there are several current and former LEOs on here, and I just want to point out that I mean nothing personal by the above. I just have a problem with anybody being empowered with the ability to control any aspect of my life. I have no problems with Jon Doe, but once he puts on his uniform and becomes Officer Doe he becomes a threat to my personal happiness. Yea, I'm selfish like that. But a lot of the time I just look at some stuff and can't figure out why it is "unlawful", many people make the mistake of thinking that anything illegal is immoral and wrong when that is often not the case.