While I'm not proud of it, there was a time I settled down behind a Porsche with a radar detector on a midwestern highway and was going 105mph. The thing is, we got passed. Twice.

Yeah, those are the guys who should be proud.

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Ex-Army Brother once got pulled over for running a red light because he didn't notice it, being so busy showing off all the controls on his new car to Dad and me. Controls that allowed him to adjust the thermostat, radio volume, etc. without looking away from the road, as he said at just the moment he breezed through that intersection.

Dad and I saw him do it, raised significant eyebrows at each other, and said nothing. It was too late for us to stop him, because we only saw it coming a split-second before he drove through. (Had Mom been in the car, she would've screamed. The rest of us only comment upon each other's driving when necessary to avoid an imminent crash or turn missage.)

When the cop pulled him over, we confirmed that yes, he had in fact run the red light. He got off with a warning--I think it was the combination of his very abashed apology and being a major in uniform just outside of West Point.

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someone going too fast the wrong way. In reverse.

Wait, that's exactly the way to go the wrong way down a one-way street! Okay, in the Boston area people do it all the time. (Not in garbage trucks.)

Also, in CT they have this lovely rural highway (the Merritt Parkway) that everyone flies along (because they're all driving beemers and saabs) and it basically has no on-ramps, plus is hilly and tree-y.

It basically has no on-ramps because you have to start from a STOP SIGN!! with no acceleration lane. Onto a highway with narrow lanes, no margin on the sides, and a prevailing average speed of 75. So unless you drive stick or have a V6 engine, good fucking luck.

It's fairly common for me to look down at the speedometer and not realize I was doing 80.

You drive too good a car. My car starts to shimmy when I hit 70. Doesn't stop me from driving it faster, but I know it when I'm doing it!

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He went off on this incredibly detailed rant that culminated with " Who am I signalling for? WHO?! Am I signalling for God?! GOD DOESN'T CARE!!! HE ALREADY KNOWS WHICH WAY I'M TURNING AND GOD.DOESN'T.CARE!!!!!"

Hee! But yeah, I'd rather people signal out of habit even if nobody's within 10 miles. Because that's simpler than making a habit of checking your blind spots before signaling.

Incidentally I have a question about the study where x percentage of driver violate the speed limit. Does the percentage change as the speed limit increases? I have 55 mph highways and 75 mph within a few miles of each other. And it looks to me like every time I move from the 55 mph segment to the 75 mph segment, all the people who were going 75 mph in the 55 mph zone speed up some more when they enter the 75 mph zone.

From what I can dig up the answer is... sorta. Raising the limit on local/arterial roads to the actual rate of most traffic doesn’t cause the traffic to speed up further to compensate. With highways the data aren't as clear but my impression is that a percentage of drivers do increase their speed a little more if the limit goes up.

Though I suspect in the situation you're describing, it's because of the progression from "I'm going faster than traffic" to "Hm, now I'm going the same speed as traffic. I'd better accelerate a little more." Not that they're thinking it through consciously.

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There's a bridge from DC to Alexandria where you can find yourself having to cross all 4 lanes of traffic in the brief span it takes to cross to the Potomac, if you're coming from DC and going S in VA.

I believe this is no longer true. That area has gotten much more sane with the traffic patterns (if it's where I think it is).

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Years ago, while driving down a long, straight, deserted road, I discovered that the engine computer of my Focus will kill the ignition if you go over 110 mph. (The ignition comes back on once the car slows down a few mph.)

And back in the early '80s, I got my parent's '73 Mercury Marquis (with the 460 cubic inch engine) up to 120 mph.

Anyway, I think those are the two times I've driven faster than 90 mph.

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On Top Gear last night James May took the Bugatti Veyron to like 257 mph! It was awesome. Top Gear is like my favorite new show of the fall.

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I have a mad crush on Richard Hammond.

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Do they draw straws to decide who gets to drive the really fast cars? Did Jeremy Clarkson lose out because he got to drive the Bugatti across the continent? And why won't Bugatti let the Stig test the car on their track?

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I LOVE Top Gear! So snarky and smart and fun. Of ocurse, the DH being an auto journalist makes it even more fun fo rme, as I acutally get someof the automotive in-jokes.

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