All valid points, Joe. I'm not in favor of erratic driving, or being a d*ck head. I didn't know there was such a reputation associated with the Gumball rally. I would like to discuss general traffic for a moment, apart from the Gumball rally.
I don't think everyone should be a cop, or act like a cop, or call the cops just because someone is speeding. As far as I know, common speeding is not a felony. Let the cops be cops, and as long as no one gets hurt, (I'm not talking about the Gumball right now), as long as there has been "no harm", lets just say "no foul". Let the "bad guys" get away with speeding, unless you are a cop. If someone wants to harrass others, let them join the local police force. I just don't wanna see a police state, where every self-righteous Dudley-Do-Right just feels compelled to call the cops on someone, just 'cause they are speeding.
When I speed, (on my private test track), I am very courteous. I (almost) never make someone else slam on their brakes, or even change their direction or velocity at all. But I do like to win, and believe me, its just like a race on the freeway out here in So Cal. No one admits it, but half of the motorists are always jockeying for position, hoping to gain on their "opponent" by a car length, hoping to get ahead, and this effort is only marginally balanced by the speed limit. This is the normal state of affairs, and it is fostered by our culture. Even Dodge has this commercial that shows a Dodge Ram truck beat a dragster off the line, when the light turns green. (OK, I know its supposedly because the nerds' chute deployed, but it still fosters a competitive attitude, as the Ram driver motors happily ahead, gloating he is in first place)
Power sells vehicles, and they know it. To me, all of life is a race, and public traffic is just a mirror of society's values for speed and style. Even soccer moms are competitive drivers, (just at slower speeds), as they cut each other off in the school parking lots while picking up the kids. Even old men are competitive, albeit only working for a stalemate, as they meander out in traffic, deliberately trying to merge at 20 miles an hour, while "them punks" are doing 60. Even those who don't own sports cars are acting competitively, regarless if it is only in a passive-agressive style, its still competitive behavior. Everyone is guilty of being competitive, so no one has an excuse to call the authorities on another, unless there is a compelling reason. Out here in So Cal, almost NO ONE is driving the posted speed limit. The CHP is fully aware of this, and if everyone slowed down, public revenue from traffic tickets would dissappear. The CHP just uses typical and quite normal behavior, (Speeding), to generate revenue. They capitalize on it. If we as a society were really interested in everyone slowing down, we would ban sports cars, take car commercials off the air that foster competitiveness on public roads. But we don't. So its like the powers that be, our elected governing officialdom, just pretend they are all for the speed limit, but in fact and practice, they really are content to just "rake it in", to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars going into the "public" coffers. They count onn this money to fund their various "gubmint" projects, and if this revenue wasn't there, they would cease to function. Revenue from traffic citations is huge, and has become the "bread and butter" long enough, where now they can't do without it. Don't think so? Then maybe they would like to return it to the public in a rebate check. (Don't seem likely!)
Back to those who call the cops on speeders. My opinion is that they are misguided souls, jealous and bitter because they can't stop a speeder by straddling two lanes with their mini-van, (I made that one up, but bear with me), and having no power to win the defacto "race" we are all in with their P.O.S., they resort to becoming a tattle-tale, and call the police, so they can at least gloat in the knowledge that although they did not "win" the race, they at least caused the (richer, more affluent, more powerful) other competitor (sports car driver) to experience the pain of getting stopped, and getting a ticket. They are driven by the most petty and shallow of all motivations, and failing to recognize their equal status of guilt, they feel exonerated by the law. Vile humanity that they are.
So these guys want to run a cross country race on the public roads. And I get the feeling that most guys here would like to be able to drive as fast as they want, as long as it's safe. And the folks in the fast lane better get out of the way if I come up behind.
I was just wondering what the highways would be like if it was ok and legal to do all of the above. Remember, you wouldn't be the only ones doing it. I'll bet there would be trouble when every kid ricer and motorcycle crazy decided to have a multi vehicle race around the Washington beltway.
How would you like to be driving the kids to school and have a pair of Hondas pass you at triple your speed, one on each side?
The yardstick I use to measure a driver I see on the street, doing something unusual is this.
Would it be ok if everyone did this?
