One of the biggest pet peeves I have developed in the last couple years is my annoyance for drivers who drive under the speed limit. In order to accurately understand why slow drivers really hit a nerve for me, I suppose it would be helpful if I were to start at the very beginning…. As I was growing up, my parents were never ones to really obey the rules of the road. My mom and dad enjoyed racing each other to and from certain places for the reward of bragging rights and a temporary postponement of diaper duty. When I began learning to drive, it was my dad that encouraged my speed. He always urged me to go just a little bit faster; his one rule being to obviously avoid any and all police cars and potential car accidents. His last words before I got my license were ‘drive with caution’; words you can imagine I took as being nothing but simply ironic. The night I got my license, he took me on the freeway at midnight and told me to floor it. To him, that was my initiation into the world of freedom via motor vehicle.
Surprise, surprise, I ended up developing driving habits much like that of my parents. For this reason I am not, by any means, a patient driver. Despite my understanding of the safety needs for speed limits, I am not a fan of the speed limits as they are set, let alone the idea of going any slower than the speed limit indicates. I’m the type of person with a very constant ‘need for speed’.
I understand that my pet peeve has everything to do with my own person and very little to do with the other drivers on the road. I get frustrated with slower drivers purely because of my own previous experiences driving. In order to let go of this pet peeve I know I have to be a little more patient when I drive and somehow persuade myself to follow the speed limit. At one point I had convinced myself that going slower than the speed limit is as dangerous as going over it (completely untrue), yet I continue to be picky about it. I wonder if I’ll ever ease up on the old granny’s and visually impaired drivers out there, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
This made me laugh! Your dad seems pretty awesome if he teaches you that speeding is okay! However, I hate to admit that I am one of those drivers that tries to go the exact speed limit... but NOT under it. I have ungratefully received a speeding ticket this past semester. So there is no way I am speeding again while I am up here! Just make sure and not be driving while I am on the road! ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha I have been all too lucky not to have received any speeding tickets yet (knock on wood). I am sure however, that my time will come. I can just feel it! I have a good sense for when there are police around, but I can only imagine that the advice my dad has given me will fail me at some point. Your smarter than I am, but I can't seem to help it.
ReplyDeleteHey, if my dad said it was okay to speed.. then by all means I would speed! haha
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, do you feel the need to slow down in the rain and snow? That is actually a legitimate reason to go slower (for safety).
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I think being late (or almost late) is a big factor in being annoyed at people going slow though. :) If I was almost late, I would talk to people from my car saying little things like, "Come on people come on come on!!" to try to get through a green arrow, but not in a mad way. For some reason I don't get road rage, although my dad does sometimes, and my mom doesn't. I think road rage must have to do with personality, and I am more like my mom that way.
It is annoying when people do go slow, expecally if they are in the left lanes. However I don't think it is ok to just go as fast as you want to a point of being reckless. I have learned from personal experience when I took a shrap turn going too fast. It cost me not only a lot of money but it also hurt pretty bad
ReplyDeleteFrom reading about your past experiences I hope that I am never on the roads as the same time as you. You scare me!
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say is sorry because my parents are these slow drivers! I get so frustrated any time I ride with them because it takes twice as long to get anywhere with mom driving. I appologize for my family drivers of Provo!
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