CNN.com shares 5 ways to avoid a speeding ticket

Top ten ways to avoid a speeding ticket, first five: Cheap and easy, these suggestions might not save you gas, but they are intended to save you the cost of a speeding ticket. To me, the tips are aimed at interstate travelers, but you may see something different. I split the list for two manageable bits of travel commentary. Visit the original article here for the full story.

Drive within 5-10 mph of surrounding traffic I have been told by a reputable source that driving less than 10 mph over the speed limit is generally accepted due to the margin of error implicit in radar speed detection. To date, that theory has proven true for me, I would love to here from someone who has experienced otherwise -though.

Try to stay in the middle of the pack: Personally, I stay OUT of the pack. My mom always warned against travelling in "the pack" and I agree. Just notice how interstate wrecks usually occur: one car drifts over in to the other lane and the car behind him doesn't have time to navigate out of the way; or a sudden brake. Driving at least one car length for every 10 mph is a good rule to drive by.

Find a 'rabbit': In other words, assume a reasonable distance behind a fellow speeder, in hopes that a radar would lock on the line leader first. Much to my chagrin, I am forced to report the fallacy of this tip. I have been in the middle of three happy speeding cars pulled over. The cop asked if we were acquaintances, traveling together. "NO", but I did think there was safety in numbers. Apparently, not to a diligent traffic cop. To this day, if I am driving near a car being directed to pull over, I avoid eye contact with the patrolman so he can't wave me over as well.

Don't change lanes frequently, tailgate,or drive aggressively: Not only do you increase your risk of causing an accident, when you drive like that, you waste gas (see prior blog Save fuel or 7 minutes).

Avoid the fast lane: All I know is you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Avoiding the fast lane means driving on the right where the congestion is greater, and cars are entering and exiting the highway, so you would think being farther from on/off ramps would be safer. Also, when you are in the fast lane, you don't have to watch your left side mirror... but you had better watch in your rear-view mirror for the "AngrySpeeder". Even driving 75mph is often not fast enough, and "AngrySpeeder" will let you know how much you have inconvenienced him when he passes you after honking, flashing his lights and tailgating dangerously close to get your attention. I'll save further thoughts on this topic for another blog, like this one. See: A Civil Car is Cheap.

To summarize, I must state emphatically that though I love the thrill of speed (see blog SPEED), and I support your freedom to choose your speed(see blog CHOOSE), you are responsible for your own car, driving, speeding, and tickets ( see former speedaholic learns to slow down), ...God knows ...I have paid for my fair share.

Happy Speeder does not condone, recommend, or support driving faster than the speed limit. All Rights Reserved.

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A "civil"car is a cheap investment in fuel economy.

don't be a hater...

Slurping my coffee, I hear the honk from behind demanding that I accelerate faster. God forbid there is a car length between my front bumper and the car ahead. I am sorry that my car is not advancing as fast as you think that it should. I lift my foot off of the brake and my car rolls forward, without acceleration, to advance the 5 feet of open road that have just become available. Go ahead! whip your car out in front of that other moving vehicle, floor your gas pedal and quickly jerk the steering wheel back into the lane in front of my car.

This phenomenon was new to me before I changed jobs about a year ago and began driving at peak traffic time on a highway that merges (or bleeds) into Georgia interstate 285. Before then, I had encountered such traffic occasionally, without warning, and let's face it; when reality does not meet expectation, tolerance can be scarce.

But on 285? At 8:00 a.m. -what did you expect? Unless you have a flying Jetson-mobile, you are not going to move faster than the lines of traffic that appear endlessly before you. Even if you tailgate the car in front of you and refuse to allow anyone who had the misfortune of not changing lanes as soon as you did to merge; you will not get to work faster. No, you gain nothing.... except control.

But at what cost?

Besides the damage to your cardiovascular system from stress and hate; you expend unnecessary gasoline with each push of the pedal. Assuming you drive aggressively throughout your commute, you may be spending as much as 30% more on your fuel than you have to.(see "Slowing down a little saves a lot")

Gaining 60 inches of road before your fellow commuter is like pushing the "close" button instead of holding the elevator for the person 2 seconds away. And how do you feel when that grateful person smiles and thanks you? Personally,I feel happy, just as I do when I allow cars to merge in front of me, knowing that I am relieving some of their stress as well as my own. Who knows? I may be preventing an accident ahead of me from that same desperate driver's failed attempt to wedge himself in front of an unwilling "merge snob".

All I am saying is face the reality. Embrace rush hour, anticipate it, benefit from it, don't worry, and be a HAPPY SPEEDER.

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Is that car driving slow on purpose?

How do you know if the slow car in front of you is coasting or choking? During my commute today, as I conscientiously managed an appropriate distance between myself and others, I was startled by a very slow moving vehicle ahead of me. What is this guy doing?! (my immediate thought is always a "guy?!" while my husband usually says "lady!?"...). Is he stalled or wrecked? As I passed him, I realized that he was coasting!

OK, if my initial assumption is that there is surely something wrong with that slow-moving vehicle - I can only imagine what the Non- happy-speeder thinks when he happens to find himself behind me. This experience reminded me why I started this blog. If that coasting car had a sign that alerted me to his happy speeding state, my reaction would have been to coast along behind him. Instead, I wasted gas by changing lanes to go a little faster,to brake harder, and to end up one car ahead of him at the next jam. When will I ever learn...

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