Driving at or below speed limit? Cop checks in..

[flamingfingers]

I'm one of those odd drivers who tries their best to drive at or below the posted speed limit.

I include the word ‘below’ here, as sometimes there is a need, for safety reasons, to slow down to less than the posted speed limit. This often has consequences when I have to share the road with other drivers who do not subscribe to my philosophy on road safety.

A good example of this happened recently. I looked in my rear view mirror to see the Volvo logo on the grille of a heavy transport truck that was following me closely enough that I could count the bugs stuck to it.

This incident occurred on the Trans Canada Highway westbound between the Alberta border and Golden on a relatively long and steep downgrade. I was returning home from a family wedding in Banff. Road conditions were not the greatest, as the winter damage had been done and road maintenance had not yet caught up. The shoulders were gravel covered, the lane markings were poor or non-existent, and the road surface itself was uneven in places.

My preferred solution in a situation like this is to pull over and let the offender by. Better to inconvenience myself than to become involved in a collision. In this case, I had to wait to find a good place to do so, and in the interim sweat out having that Volvo logo looming large behind me. The truck passed me before I was able to pull over, but I was able to read the company name off the door of the truck cab.

Read the rest:

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#164152

I am sure you will agree that there are some times when it is in the best interests of safety to drive BELOW the speed limit!!

[smoky500]

vital pieces of information missing, how far below the speed limit was this person going, and did this truck pass on a double solid line or was it a legal pass? If this person was doing 30 or 40 km under the limit, going down a hill and did not have hazards flashing warning that they were going very slow, then it would be easy for anyone, especially a loaded truck, to end up very close to them.

[mexi cali]

While the truck may have rounded a corner and come across the slow moving vehicle, once realization had dawned on the truck driver that he is in fact behind another motorist, he could have and should have backed off.

There are plenty of aggressive transport drivers out there who use the size of their vehicles as a means to intimidate anyone who isn't driving the way they feel they should.

Contrary to popular belief, it is OK to be a safe driver. Adapting to the road conditions is one way they are noticeable on our roads.

I do not condone those who impede the flow of traffic however in an effort to make a point by driving at or below the limit in favorable conditions. I hate those people but I have always appreciated those who adjust their driving speeds when conditions are not favorable.

Anyone who doesn't follow suit or at least be courteous enough to leave space until such time as they can safely pass or the slow mover is able to safely let the traffic that wishes to get past pass can go f....ck themselves.

[Dizzy1]

If road or traffic conditions warrant driving less than the speed limit, absolutely - thats common sense. However, keep in mind this part of the story ...

My preferred solution in a situation like this is to pull over and let the offender by. Better to inconvenience myself than to become involved in a collision. In this case, I had to wait to find a good place to do so

... before all the perfect "I can drive as slow as I want whenever and wherever I want and I don't care whats behind me" crowd chimes in.

Gravel is the worst - I always keep extra, extra, extra distance behind the car in front of me - and if someone passes me, I slow right down and pull over just to keep as many rocks as possible off my paint job