Speeding - Willful Disobedience ?

[Josh]

I feel like 5 - 10 mph over is in line with the rest of the general public and also does not attract any attention from the local constabulary.

20 over, and reckless driving, endangers others, has a harsher penalty, and will get you the sheriff’s attention. And it’s also a bad witness.

In Australia just 2-3 km/h over will get you speed camera fines. And the custom there is not to speed at all. So the cultural and legal expectation is different.

In any case, if one gets a citation, I feel like I can’t justify bearing false witness just to reduce my chances of a fine or negative driving record.

[Sudsy]

I feel like 5 - 10 mph over is in line with the rest of the general public and also does not attract any attention from the local constabulary.

20 over, and reckless driving, endangers others, has a harsher penalty, and will get you the sheriff’s attention. And it’s also a bad witness.

In Australia just 2-3 km/h over will get you speed camera fines. And the custom there is not to speed at all. So the cultural and legal expectation is different.

In any case, if one gets a citation, I feel like I can’t justify bearing false witness just to reduce my chances of a fine or negative driving record.

Very interesting about Australia, another thing I didn't know. Well, that makes 3 this year.

I know I'm being persistent on an area where we all likely sin but I'm curious as to what others think about our justifying breaking a law and we don't seem to feel we need to repent. What if your child looked over your shoulder at the speedometer and said 'hey, you're speeding' ? What answer can one give for breaking the law ?

One definition of sin is sin is lawlessness. It is a violation of God’s standard. If God's standard according to Romans 13 is to obey government made laws (except if God's law overrides it), then are we not willfully sinning when we speed regardless of what law enforcement might allow or what the norm is ?

Is this living in unrepentant sin when we willfully continue to go over the speed limit ?

[silentreader]

What would you consider to be the goal of traffic laws?

My guess is that all of us would agree that one goal of traffic laws is for the safety of everyone on the road.

Are there areas where we can be willfully disobedient to God such as continual, unrepentant breaking of traffic laws and these areas do not require us to repent (turn from breaking them again) ? We just do them and hope we don't get caught and penalized by God through His law enforcers. Romans 13:4b-5 -

They are God’s servants to punish those who do wrong. So you must obey the government, not just because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.

A couple of things I wonder about, if I drive at the speed limit while the general flow of traffic is 15K faster, am I a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?
In the few instances where a minimum speed is posted, do I still try to obey that law if there are blizzard or icy or dense fog conditions? Is trying to obey in those conditions a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?

[Mountain Merle]

I'm reading down thru all the comments and it sounds like most of yall are making excuses for wanting to keep speeding.
I'm not always squeaky clean in this area myself, but on a four lane road I enjoy my drive a lot better when I just stay in the right lane, drive the speed limit and let the others pass me by. It's so much more relaxing. Don't mean to digress from the speeding subject, but what about stopping at stop signs? I only know of one other Anabaptist besides myself in our area that actually stops. Including my wife. Although I am trying to train her!

[RZehr]

That’s crazy. Is this running stop signs actually an Anabaptist thing there, or is it a local thing?
Must be a really quiet, dead road?

[Sudsy]

What would you consider to be the goal of traffic laws?

My guess is that all of us would agree that one goal of traffic laws is for the safety of everyone on the road.

Are there areas where we can be willfully disobedient to God such as continual, unrepentant breaking of traffic laws and these areas do not require us to repent (turn from breaking them again) ? We just do them and hope we don't get caught and penalized by God through His law enforcers. Romans 13:4b-5 -

They are God’s servants to punish those who do wrong. So you must obey the government, not just because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.

A couple of things I wonder about, if I drive at the speed limit while the general flow of traffic is 15K faster, am I a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?

I believe this is where the police are allowed to make judgments on when speeds over the speed limit become unsafe. Sometimes I have seen them become like a lead car to slow traffic down.

In the few instances where a minimum speed is posted, do I still try to obey that law if there are blizzard or icy or dense fog conditions? Is trying to obey in those conditions a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?

Posted safe speed limits are supposedly based on normal road conditions. Too fast or too slow in non-ideal conditions are grounds for ticketing. Enforcer's judgments come in to play.

So, then whether or not we are over or under the speed limit and we get a ticket based on the officer's judgment, the rule is not what is the ultimate grounds for punishment. We violated the 'spirit of the law' - safety.

From Wikipedia - "When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words (the "letter") of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. Conversely, when one obeys the spirit of the law but not the letter, one is doing what the authors of the law intended, though not necessarily adhering to the literal wording."

Then although we first look at a literal interpretation of the scriptures, there can be danger in taking laws (the letters) literally when that is not what the law giver intended.

[Mountain Merle]

That’s crazy. Is this running stop signs actually an Anabaptist thing there, or is it a local thing?
Must be a really quiet, dead road?

Most all our roads are dead and quiet out here in the boonies where we live. A possum crosses once in awhile......

[ohio jones]

Don't mean to digress from the speeding subject, but what about stopping at stop signs?

It's all in how you read the sign: STOP is an acronym for Sneak Through On Purpose.

Must be a really quiet, dead road?

Around Indiana where I learned to drive, and in most places I've been since, every intersection has Stop or Yield signs to indicate who has the right of way. If your road doesn't have a sign, there's no need to slow down. But one state to the west, as I found out when living in that area, back roads amidst the cornfields may have no signs at all, and whoever arrives first has the legal right of way. I think I turned white when I realized that, considering how many of those I had blown through at double nickel speeds without giving much thought to the possibility of approaching traffic on the other road.

[Neto]

The remark made above about police sometimes acting as a "lead vehicle" (Like at Daytona??? ) brings up this somewhat off-topic thought - ever notice how when people see a police car on the side of the road ahead of them, they automatically hit the brake, even when traffic is actually moving at a speed below the posted limit? That's guilt at work, not?

[silentreader]

My guess is that all of us would agree that one goal of traffic laws is for the safety of everyone on the road.

Are there areas where we can be willfully disobedient to God such as continual, unrepentant breaking of traffic laws and these areas do not require us to repent (turn from breaking them again) ? We just do them and hope we don't get caught and penalized by God through His law enforcers. Romans 13:4b-5 -

A couple of things I wonder about, if I drive at the speed limit while the general flow of traffic is 15K faster, am I a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?

I believe this is where the police are allowed to make judgments on when speeds over the speed limit become unsafe. Sometimes I have seen them become like a lead car to slow traffic down.

In the few instances where a minimum speed is posted, do I still try to obey that law if there are blizzard or icy or dense fog conditions? Is trying to obey in those conditions a help or a hindrance to the goal of the law?

Posted safe speed limits are supposedly based on normal road conditions. Too fast or too slow in non-ideal conditions are grounds for ticketing. Enforcer's judgments come in to play.

So, then whether or not we are over or under the speed limit and we get a ticket based on the officer's judgment, the rule is not what is the ultimate grounds for punishment. We violated the 'spirit of the law' - safety.

From Wikipedia - "When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words (the "letter") of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. Conversely, when one obeys the spirit of the law but not the letter, one is doing what the authors of the law intended, though not necessarily adhering to the literal wording."

Then although we first look at a literal interpretation of the scriptures, there can be danger in taking laws (the letters) literally when that is not what the law giver intended.

That's what I was looking for.
Jesus healing a man's arm on the Sabbath has some similarities possibly, although the letter had become severely twisted by then. God instituted the Sabbath for man, and Jesus' action was within the spirit of the law.