Drive Friendly

In lieu of my lack of decision making over the direction of my content, I have decided today to briefly discuss something that gets my goat and may get yours as well. Or maybe you are guilty.

Let's talk about speed limits or more specifically: SPEEDERS.

This has become a more troublesome personal issue since moving to our current home five years ago. We are in an acreage community with horses but no sidewalks. We have a really long driveway, so you can ride a bike on the driveway, but because of speeders, I have never felt comfortable letting our kids ride around the hood or even on just our road. I am sure you just rolled your eyes and thought,    " Helicopter mom much?" But I promise it's worse than you can fathom.

No matter what you think about any posted speed limit, the thing is someone with the power to decide, who is not you, made a choice about that limit. They may have done something like a traffic study or considered what was on that road to determine the limit. The point is that YOU, the driver, don't get to choose what goes on the signs. Anywhere. And no one cares how you feel about it like if you feel that it should be greater because you feel like you should be able to go faster.

Now as far as speed limits go, I tend to go under them, and I have always been this way. Maybe my mom always drove this way as a role model, and I should ask her. I know that she taught me to never allow my gas tank to go under a quarter tank, which I have in turn taught my kids. And kids, if you are reading this and you run out of gas, it won't be because I didn't warn you. She also liked to use the word unsanitary, and I use that word in the same context she always did.

Now, just so we all know that I am not perfect, there was this one time that I did go 32 mph down the main drag in my hood like a year ago, and a neighbor lady walking down her long driveway to her mailbox KNEW I wasn't going 25 mph and took off screaming at me down her driveway. And I saw her, and I knew why. I felt overwhelmingly guilty, and obviously, I slowed down. I even considered going back and explaining to her in my own defense how I generally never speed and apologize, but then I wondered if that would be too weird. It certainly would have set one heck of an example to my kids who were in the car with me and probably would have been the first of its kind maybe in all world history for neighbor introductions. Instead of being really weird, I just went home and slowed down.

Anyway, back to speed limits: what I don't understand are people who just do this.

It's who they are. They don't care, and it doesn't bother them that this bothers me. They think I should speed up and shut up.

And I am not talking about folks who cruise three miles over the limit.

I am talking about the ones who are going 45 mph in a 25 mph for instance in under a quarter mile on a cul de sac street by the time they pass our driveway and are the reason I don't feel like I can let the kids ride there without risking their lives.

I am talking about the ones going 72 mph in a 60 mph zone.

And what I am saying is that these same people will speed regardless of whatever the posted limit is and wherever they are driving.

The reason that I don't understand is not because I generally don't speed, but because this person is making a deliberate choice that is an actual danger to others. It goes beyond a lack of manners. These folks are young and old, driving trucks and cars, male and female. We also have a chronic stop sign running issue that is even scarier in my hood, and despite laying on my horn every time I see it, what I know is I better completely stop myself because the person who runs the sign is usually the same person who is speeding, and they aren't looking for me as evidenced by blowing the sign.

Is this the genesis of generations of bad examples from parents? Is a lead foot genetic?

I don't really know how to find out the answers.

I have considered becoming an anti-speeding activist.

I could go out like Ray Comfort does, identify speeders, and ask them if they feel they are a good driver and then explain the dangers of their behavior and ask if they want to repent.

Alas, I don't think I have time to do this since I am a full time homeschooling mother who needs to go teach a middle school writing class to two of our kids, which leads me to the most obvious rally point to deal with this issue plaguing our society (or at least my hood): teach my own kids not to do this.

Maybe today, we will write a paper on ten reasons why we should obey driving rules and laws. I was looking for a subject.

Our pastor has quipped many times that we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice. So whether scientists ever identify a lead foot gene or we come to a consensus that everyone had one parent who caused the other parent constantly ask them to slow down, which causes kids to have to choose who to model, speeding is a choice, which means it's a behavior that can be changed. And that means I have to start with me and those in my house who will be taught to love Jesus and to show they at least  see they have a neighbor who is also going somewhere by slowing down.

Either way, as we say in Texas: drive friendly!

Which means slow, if you aren't from Texas and needed a translation. We are our own country, after all. And if you are from Texas, we have the best of everything. Let's be the best drivers too, which are slower ones. Nonspeeders. Stop sign obeyers .Turn signal users.

I am sure you know where I am going with this, and please, if you are following, don't speed.

May your day be blessed and at least 3 mph under any posted speed limit, Nicole