Speeding makes no sense

Driving home yesterday afternoon on I-84, I was passed by a car weaving in and out of traffic, in what can only be described as dangerous and stupid.

I see this all the time, and quite possibly more often today:

Drivers exceeding the speed limit by considerable margins and weaving in and out of traffic in ways that endanger themselves and those around them.

It makes no sense.

I’m not someone averse to a bit of speeding on the highway. You’ll never find me driving 55 or even 65 when the road allows for it, but you also won’t find me driving 80 or 90 MPH either.

But here’s why driving even driving 70 or 75 MPH makes no sense:

Since the advent of GPS technology, it has become clear that the difference between 65 and 75 MPH is almost nothing in terms of changing your arrival time. Over the course of an hour, that additional 10 MPH yields about eight minutes of time saved, but only if your entire trip — door to door — can be done at those speeds, which never happens.

More often than not, a car will drive 10 or 20 MPH faster than me as it passes by, only to hit traffic farther up the road or an exit ramp with a traffic light, allowing me to instantly make up that ground.

It happens all the time.

Last week, a car was weaving through traffic on a two-lane road that runs past the high school in my town. He passed me in a less-than-safe manner and did the same down the road. But two minutes later, I pulled alongside him at a traffic light, and when the light changed to green, my lane moved first, so I was once again ahead of him, prompting him to begin his asinine passing procedure again.

Endangering himself and others yet again. Risking a speeding ticket or reckless driving charge in the process.

I understand the desire to shave off time from a commute, especially when you’re running late, and before we had technology that makes it clear that exceeding the speed limit saves little time while endangering yourself and those around you, I was as guilty of this stupidity as the people I see on the roads today.

But then I began using a GPS, and as my speed on the highway increased in an effort to save time, my arrival times barely nudged.

I came to understand that it wasn’t worth it.

Increasing your speed saves little time, and something as simple as a red light, a bit of traffic, or even a stop sign will often negate the time you’ve saved.

How have these morons on the road, weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds, not figured this out yet?