Slow Drivers

Brad Edmonds at Lew Rockwell raises valid points about slow drivers. Link. Excerpts:

[S]low drivers make things more dangerous for everyone else. When a fast driver moves along the interstate, he doesn't force anyone else to change lanes or to slow down or speed up. A slow driver, whatever lane he's in, bollixes all traffic around him, because everyone who comes up behind him has to (a) slow down; (b) change lanes at the new slower speed, slowing down left-lane traffic; (c) speed up again; and (d) get back into his original lane. Hence, aside from disrupting commerce and making the roads less safe, slow drivers cause the rest of us to use more gasoline. Why aren't the greenies up in arms over this? . . .

Yes, fast drivers do cause accidents, but usually only involving themselves and immovable roadside objects. The last time I looked, the NHTSA and IIHS reported that the slowest 5%, and fastest 5%, of drivers cause the most accidents, with the slowest 5% being the most dangerous. This is not because driving slowly causes you to lose control, of course, but because the slowest 5% usually are the extremely elderly, 18-wheelers moving around town, overloaded and wobbly old pickup trucks, etc. I'd rather take my chances with the fast drivers, thanks.

Eric Scheske drives about 75 mph in a 70 mph zone, 63 mph in a 55 mph zone, and 27 mph in a 25 mph zone. These speeds don't exactly qualify him as a fast driver, but he sides with Edmonds and his ire against slow drivers.