Why do we have Highway Minimums
Why Minimum Speed Limits Keep Traffic At a Minimum
You really can get a ticket for driving too slow. It is rare, but it does happen. There is a uniform code of laws for all federal highways that they have to post a minimum speed limit of 40 miles per hour. My question? Why just forty? You are on a highway? Let's get going!
The purpose of the Minimum Speed Rule is to keep a driver from driving at such a low speed that he or she prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle at such a slow speed that they mess up the other drivers around them. This could happen by driving too slow and causing traffic jams, or causing accidents as drivers come up quickly behind them. On a side note though, this same law does say that slower speed is okay when it is necessary- such as bad weather, or that is the speed that traffic is going.
This is what bugs me about this though. On a highway, the maximum speed is seventy-five miles per hour. Most people go eighty, and sometimes the speed of traffic is going even faster. A person going forty is still impeding traffic. A driver going forty can still cause an accident. I would say that driving forty miles an hour holds a bigger statistic of causing an accident, or being in an accident then driving at the rate of traffic.
That being said, it really is irritating when you see cops going after those that are speeding, but letting the cars that are surely only going ten miles an hour off. Maybe they see it as safer. There is a strong argument that slower is not safer. How safe is it going to be when a corvette turns the corner going seventy five and doesn't have time to stop for the tomato truck going twenty in the same lane. I guarantee you the driver of the corvette is going to suffer, not only injuries, but insurance costs as well.
That is another thing, as insurance goes, fault always end up on the one who hits the rear of the other. There are numerous, documented cases where drivers purposefully slow down in order to get hit for insurance money.
The rule should be that one must drive at the speed of traffic. Keep a speed limit, but not a speed minimum. If a driver is going to slow, they need to be told to get off for their safety and the safety of others.
