Pedal to the Metal...Why Do We Speed?

MAVERICK/GOOSE (in unison):...the need for speed!"

-- from the movie Top Gun (1986)

Granted, the actors in that movie in that scene were talking about the supersonic speed of a U.S. Navy F-14 fighter jet, but look around on any major highway and chances are the speed you see might make you wonder what those others drivers are feeling. Maybe they're not thinking about anything at all; maybe they've just been conditioned over time to drive on "auto-pilot" and assume that everyone else around them is driving the same way.

Why are so many of us in such a hurry these days? We seem to be in such a rush to get somewhere to do something that probably isn't such an urgent thing anyway. We've taken it for granted that speed is a need that we somehow can't live without. We've even got a name for it: "rush hour." Whether the need for speed is an addiction to some or a real necessity for others, the common denominator is the automobile. Kind of like marijuana... some are addicted to the "high" while others find medicinal value in it, but the fact remains if there wasn't any marijuana around there would be neither addictions to it or medicinal benefits derived from it. I'm not suggesting that we get rid of all the automobiles and go back to riding horses or bicycles as our main mode of transportation; I'm merely suggesting that the way cars and trucks are made actually facilitates, and feeds that "need for speed." And, just as there are side-effects of drug use, there are obvious side-effects of motor vehicular speed.

The cost of speed ... How many of you have ever gotten a speeding ticket? (WOW! Look at all those hands raised!) They can be expensive, huh? Add to that other charges if you just happened to have some reason for speeding, like, oh... being too drunk to drive, or reckless driving because you're dealing with some road rage or are in a hurry to get somewhere, or maybe you just thought you could get away with it. Now, assuming you racked up some other charges on top of the base charge of speeding, consider how much more expensive it becomes when you rack up enough points on your license to lose it. Taxis, public transportation... and not just in terms of the fares, but also the inconvenience factor of waiting around for a taxi to show up or figuring out a bus schedule. The expense of the frustration alone is more than just a little annoying.

Another real obvious cost of speeding is the fuel consumption. When we're looking at about $3 a gallon now, who can really afford to waste a drop of gas these days racing down the highways as fast as that car or truck can go? It's a fact: the faster the vehicle goes, the quicker it burns the gas. Sure, you'll get to where you want to go sooner, but then again, directing your attention back to the top of this article, what's the point? At a sustained rate of 60 MPH, I can travel a distance of 60 miles in 60 minutes. At 120 MPH, I'll cover that distance in half the time, but... at that speed I'm just asking to be involved in a bad accident, or to get stopped by a State Trooper, so how much time did I really save?

And the most obvious side-effect... "Speed Kills!" That's not just a slogan for the anti-drug campaigns; it's a factor in quite a lot of motor vehicle accident-related deaths. It's common knowledge that unless you're a professional race car driver or a skilled stunt driver or someone trained in high-speed tactics, your reflexes can become highly altered when you drive outside your normal boundaries of common sense. Even if a death doesn't occur, it's practically certain there will be serious or disabling injuries and major damage to the vehicle... which in turn causes insurance rates to climb.

Let's face it... there simply is no reason that "normal" driving should include excessive speed. That's why there are speed limits. Did you know that even an ambulance en route to an emergency scene, or transport to a medical facility, must obey posted speed limits? Makes sense, don't you think... what good is an ambulance if it gets in an accident before it gets to where it needs to be to do what it was designed to do? There are only two classes of vehicles that can exceed the speed limit, and only in true emergency situations: police and fire department apparatus... and those people are trained for high speed maneuvers. A "true emergency" for the police would be something like a quick response to a crime in progress or to render some sort of necessary aid, or pursuit of a fleeing suspect. Fire departments, on the other hand, will use a more rapid response when it seems likely that there is risk to human life; like entrapment in a burning structure or automobile. Otherwise, they will hurry of course, but more often than not they will stay within posted speed limits.

"But it's not my fault I drive fast!" ... Well, that might be a creative argument to use considering that most automobiles have speedometers that peg at 120 MPH. I've often wondered about that... why is a "normal" car or truck engineered to exceed (by a lot) most posted speed limits? Here's a thought... maybe the automobile manufacturers are in cahoots with law enforcement agencies, the oil companies, and the insurance industry to encourage speeding in order that those side-effects described above can create some nice "cha-chings" in the coffers! Think about it... if cars and trucks were made in such a way that they couldn't possibly go any faster than say, 65 MPH, there'd be a lot less traffic citations. The demand for gas would drop since, at lower speeds, a tank of gas would last longer. And, fewer accidents would certainly make a dent in the insurance companies pay outs, but also reduce their profits when they couldn't just raise the rates to punish people for being in accidents.

Hmmm... I wonder how hard it would be to mandate such an "improvement" in the design and manufacture of something that so many people need. Oh, to live in a perfect world, eh?