Why do people think it's O.K. to break the speed limit?

Question

I work in an office with 10 other people, and the vast majority of them are infuriated when they get "caught" for speeding, they disagree with hidden speed cameras and the tickets. They think they should be allowed to go 40 in a 30 zone, as long as they don't get caught, and think it's unfair if they do get caught without there being a visibly speed camera. Surely, rules are rules, you break the speed limit, you broke the law, whether you get caught or now, how can they even have any excuse or argument against it?

Answer 1

Speed enforcement was for the purpose of invoking safety on the roads. If you're on the highway and everybody is doing 70 mph, and you are doing 55 mph it presents an unsafe scenario on your particular stretch of highway, however you go with the flow of traffic at 70 mph, then I would consider this to be a perfectly acceptable form of going over the speed limit. On city streets where there may be small children, strict adherence to the speed limit should be practiced. Remember...... safety first.

Answer 2

Well goody goody, have you never bent/broke the rules.  How is that office pencil at home. Phoned home from the office today.  Opened any personal emails, oh dear got caught.

Answer 3

Speed limits are all about money.

Answer 4

It doesn't get you there that much faster.  It doesn't make you look cool.  In fact, it makes you look very dumb and like the law-breaker that you are.  The Speed Limit is not a suggestion, it is the law.

Answer 5

Selfishness, they think the rules apply to everyone else but themselves.  Or, they simply suffer from brain farts.

Answer 6

Great question.  Rationalization.  It goes beyond the speed limit issue into every facet of life.  Fortunately each of us are free to determine our own conduct. :).

I was in a group who were all discussing their radar detectors and how many times they failed to save them from a ticket.  They were each trying to say theirs was the best kind.  I finally said I have the perfect radar detector, it works every time without fail and I don't have to watch.  I drive the speed limit.  I have no tickets.  Duh!.

Answer 7

I am in the safety profession and I think it is perfectly normal to exceed the speed limit by  a modest amount, since limits are usually set very conservatively. However, if you get busted, it's your own fault. Just remember that those speed cameras are not really about safety. They are about revenue for the town that that installed them and the company that owns the cameras.

Answer 8

I think that it's just "human nature" to do what ever you can get away with because there is no 'enforcement' in place at that place at that time. Once in a while we get caught, whether it's theft, speeding or whatever.

Laws are for honest people, and of course we ALL think we are honest.............until we are caught and therefore embarrassed. We then justify our errors to everyone by minimizing our own errors and maximizing mistakes of others. It just makes us "feel" a wee bit better.

We also become quite "self-righteous" when others make mistakes while driving.........we can't afford to be this way, because we are all human and we all make errors while driving, some we are well aware of and give a "sigh of relief" when everything is okay, and OTHERS where we know darn well that we are breaking a law.

There aren't any excuses for consciously breaking rules, but we do try to make some. It's just the human condition I suppose.

"

Answer 9

Great answer Jeff

Speed limits are set to make a town money.

Answer 10

Well I would agree with your co-workers most of the time

speed limits are usually 10-20 miles below what the road and cars can safely travel

therefore I can only conclude that speed limits are more about collecting revenue than they are about safety

40 in a 30 ? - honestly 40 would be safe in just about any siuation unless ice was on the road

i think the best bet is following traffic - if everyone is going 70 and you are going 55 - then YOU are the one driving unsafely

likewise - in bumper to bumper traffic 55 would be unsafe

Answer 11

In oregon, even if you dont break the speed limit and the cop makes a mistake giving you a ticket, you have to pay 75% of the fine even if you win the case

Thanks to  governor Kulngoski a Democrat.

So is the issue safety or ripping people off?

You decide!

Answer 12

Most individuals when stopped don't realized that they were speeding.  As an Ex-Highway Patrolman I always used judgement in issuing a fine.  If you were in a freeway type of road and/or a rural highway, I normally did not engaged you until you were over 10 miles of the speed limit.  (Example 61 MPH over 50 MPH) I also took in consideration the type of road, traffic condition and his/her driving record and of course your demeanor during the stop.  An individual driving 13 or 15 miles over the speed limit in a straight road with fairly clean driving record that told me that he/she got carry-on listening to music will most likely get away with a warning ticket in comparison with an Habitual Traffic Offender driving 5 miles over the speed limit on a school zone under heavy traffic conditions and calling me a "pig".

Every one makes decisions everyday and every decision have consequences whether they are good or bad.  You may drive 20 miles over the speed limit every day for 10 years and don't get caught, then one day you get caught and you received a citation  For the 10 years you did not get caught and you got to where you were going early and you did not complaint.  Today you got caught and now you are going to complaint? The facts are that we are all adults and that you can go to court and plea your case in the front of a judge.  And that judge is going to make a decision.  The decision may or may not be favor of the alledged offender.   We all need to accept  responsability for own action.    

Police officers do not make law.  Police officer enforce the laws that are already on the books and based specific individual situations and if allow by their superiors whether a warning and/or a traffic citation is sufficient to correct the behavior, they make a decision.    Individuals that feel that the speed limits should be higher and/or lower should bring this matters to their legislators as they have power to make changes.

Answer 13

I appreciate the expertise from the safety professional... but here (UK) there's a series of 'commercials' warning that small speed excesses kill.  Also, speedometers are error-prone even when new.  Their accuracy worsens with age.

Answer 14

People break the speed limit and think its Ok beacuse the government, I'm afraid, are not the trusted source of safety advice that they should be. Unfortunately the vast income that speeding offences provide often take priority over an actual increase in safety. If the governments main priority was to protect and slow traffic then there are so many other methods that could do this effectively, however they would not generate revenue, so they dont get used. If you are of the opinion that rules are rules then stick to the limit if you secretly believe you know better and more imporatantly can get away with it then its human nature to prove yourself right. I myself am what I consider a safe driver, I dont break speed limits out of habit but I will occasionaly, when I do not pose a threat to any other road users.