Speeding - Willful Disobedience ?

[Josh]

Going 5-10 over makes zero difference on a 4 lane road with a pedestrian or child being killed.

[Aurien]

https://studentedge.org/article/let-sci ... -car-crash

Dr. Logan says slight increases or decreases in speed can have serious impact on the extent of your injuries.

"The energy [in a crash] is proportional to the square of the speed. So doubling your speed from 50km an hour to 100km an hour increases the energy that has to be dissipated by a factor of four," he explained.

"Tripling the speed means nine times the energy."

You don’t need to know advanced calculus to guess the results.

"If you just increase the speed of your car from 70km by 10 per cent to 77km, the energy absorbed goes up by 20 per cent. So the injuries aren’t just 10 per cent worse—they could be 20 per cent worse," he said.

"If you decrease your speed by 10 per cent, your injuries don’t decrease by 10 per cent—they decrease by 20 per cent.

"Small changes in speed have a big effect on the outcome, both positively and negatively."

Our bodies, as smart and well-designed as they are, can only withstand a certain force. Automotive engineering miracles aside, being cautious of your speed is still instrumental in saving lives.

[Josh]

There’s been plenty of research on this; raising speed limits from 55 to 65 or 70 didn’t have any change on fatalities. So no.

To take this logic to its conclusion, we should drive around at 1mph. And there’s nothing particularly “safe” about going the speed limit.
It might be too fast.

One of the problems on an otherwise free flowing road is different vehicles going very different speeds. Religiously driving the speed limit doesn’t improve safety if everyone else is going 5-10 over. And that’s just one of many reasons why the police aren’t ticketing every person going 5 over.

[Sudsy]

Might also depend on the drivers color of skin, volume of music, and condition/model/age of car.

Yes, because white people are notorious speeders. Particularly white males, but a goodly number of white females have lead feet, too. Volume of music and type of car notwithstanding.

Sounds awful racist and sexist to me.

[Aurien]

There’s been plenty of research on this; raising speed limits from 55 to 65 or 70 didn’t have any change on fatalities. So no.

To take this logic to its conclusion, we should drive around at 1mph. And there’s nothing particularly “safe” about going the speed limit.
It might be too fast.

One of the problems on an otherwise free flowing road is different vehicles going very different speeds. Religiously driving the speed limit doesn’t improve safety if everyone else is going 5-10 over. And that’s just one of many reasons why the police aren’t ticketing every person going 5 over.

My point is that people should drive the speed limit when they are able to do so. If driving a little faster to safely go with the flow of traffic is necessary then do so. If it's not necessary then don't do it.

[Josh]

My point is that people should drive the speed limit when they are able to do so. If driving a little faster to safely go with the flow of traffic is necessary then do so. If it's not necessary then don't do it.

Then why “shouldn’t” they drive half the speed limit?

Focusing on people going 5-10 over is a foolish quest. It’s rather telling that this thread started out as me saying it’s wrong to lie in court and say not guilty when you know you were.

And yet here we are, opining that good Christians shouldn’t drive 5 over, but also excusing a notorious child molester of dozens of boys with lying to get a 5 year sentence and somehow justifying that because he’s “repentant”.

If any of you want to turn me in, you can call the Wayne County Sheriff and tell them this Josh guy admitted to frequently driving 5 over in a 70mph zone...

[ken_sylvania]

We are commanded to do what is right "not only for wrath, but for conscience sake." In other words, do what's right even if the law won't punish us for doing wrong.

[Josh]

We are commanded to do what is right "not only for wrath, but for conscience sake." In other words, do what's right even if the law won't punish us for doing wrong.

The law has basically established by custom (and customary law is pretty important) that 5 over isn’t a problem, 15 over is, and 50 over is really bad.

There are lots of other laws like this. For example, very few people comply at a personal level with use tax laws. It’s not a priority, and it’s not enforced. (Large businesses certainly do comply.) But our custom is to definitely comply with sales tax laws.

[Aurien]

My point is that people should drive the speed limit when they are able to do so. If driving a little faster to safely go with the flow of traffic is necessary then do so. If it's not necessary then don't do it.

Then why “shouldn’t” they drive half the speed limit?

Focusing on people going 5-10 over is a foolish quest. It’s rather telling that this thread started out as me saying it’s wrong to lie in court and say not guilty when you know you were.

And yet here we are, opining that good Christians shouldn’t drive 5 over, but also excusing a notorious child molester of dozens of boys with lying to get a 5 year sentence and somehow justifying that because he’s “repentant”.

If any of you want to turn me in, you can call the Wayne County Sheriff and tell them this Josh guy admitted to frequently driving 5 over in a 70mph zone...

I reckon people can drive at half the speed limit if they want as long as they're not holding up traffic behind them or causing a safety issue by doing so. If there's a minimum speed law then they should probably follow that as well.

I don't think ANYBODY needs to drive 5 over unless it's to keep up with the flow of traffic. The reason police let so many people go at 5 over is because so many people choose to do it that stopping them all is impossible.

I personally am not excusing any child molesters nor have I ever done so. So I assume that part's directed at other people on this thread. Obviously molesting children is wrong and trying to wiggle out of a tougher sentence after being charged with molesting children is wrong. Morally I don't think speeding is anywhere near the same level of wrong as child abuse. But like I said before, if you don't NEED to speed then why do it? "Because everyone else does and the police don't pull you over if you're only going 5 mph over the limit" is not a good answer.

[Sudsy]

So isn't this obeying the 'spirit of the law' (safety) over the 'letter of the law' (posted speed limit) ? The issue then becomes whether or not the enforcer of the law, who we know enforces with a certain degree of flexibility based on circumstances, views what is safe driving in the same way we might.

We may not always see eye to eye with the enforcer but I think it would be Christian to willingly accept what the enforcer determines as the penalty when he/she believes we made a violation if we are to follow Romans 13.