If you’ve known me a while, which most of you haven’t, you know I’m pretty careful about the kiddo. For example, on long road trips, I set cruise control so I don’t speed. This is excruciating for me because I used to pride myself on beating my best long distance time, every time I road-tripped. But times they a change and I’ve had to change with them.
So picture the scene, I am driving a winding mountain pass at the speed limit with little effort. Hello, I live in the foothills of the Cascades. I drive winding mountain roads daily. I pass almost everyone on the road without speeding. Why? Because if you don’t do it daily, you don’t have those skills. The average car I pass is going 15-20 miles below the speed limit. Great. Know your limits, drive within them.
Then we get the straight away. I am still doing the speed limit (on cruise control), and all those cars I passed are flying by me at 80, 90, 100 miles an hour. I’m jealous, I admit it. But what comes to mind is this: if you can’t drive a curving pass at more than 40, you have no business doing a 100 anywhere. One car swerving slightly into your lane, one animal crossing the road, one unexpected lane change….you don’t have the skills to handle it. And bam, bang, boom, car crash.
Right?
T.A. Henry 