Letter: Life in the slow lane

When I was commuting in the Twin Cities for many years I would go with the flow. I tried to leave space ahead of me, and let others merge in and out. The flow was sometimes well over the speed limit, and sometimes zero miles per hour stuck in traffic. But now, when I head out on the highway with some room, I make a point of setting my cruise control exactly at the speed limit.

We recently had a Sunday trip which included driving on Interstate 94 in Minnesota for about 110 miles. I set my cruise control right at 70 (can’t drive 69 for some reason) and settled into the right lane. Driving 75 versus 70 would have saved us only about 10 minutes on that stretch. It also would have meant we’d be weaving in and out of traffic lanes, risking a ticket, and having someone behind us a few feet off our bumper who wanted to drive 80 or 85 miles an hour.

I counted 20 cars passing us during one 10-minute stretch, which seemed representative of traffic during our 100 or so minutes on the highway. We passed one auto and two semis. That means about 200 cars were speeding and only two cars that were not.

Maybe I’m a grumpy old man, and maybe those passing us were shaking their heads or cursing ‘that nut’ who was driving the speed limit. But when we hear frequent cries about the need for law and order, rule of law, obeying the law or respecting the law, what could be simpler than driving the legal speed limit? Why not slow down a bit and enjoy the ride, safely?

David Stene lives in near Pelican Lake, Minn.