Friday, 09 October 2009
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I Can't Drive 55...Can You?
By Jeff at The Mockingbird Blog
OK - a little honesty about myself. I'm a lawbreaker. I don't obey all of the traffic laws when I drive, because I usually drive between five and ten miles per hour over the speed limit when I'm on the highway.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I was pulled over by a highway patrolman and issued a citation for driving 64 mph in a 55 zone. This started me thinking about the reasons why officers issue citations, which can at times seem capricious. Citations do serve a purpose: they remind us that there is an open set of consequences that may be applied, and if you don't want to be one of the unlucky ones who is pulled over then you had better obey the law. The fear of a citation and fine is supposed to scare us into obedience. But it doesn't work. Not always, at any rate.
Unfortunately, our human nature prefers to rebel against this sort of imposed obedience. Sin isn't just a casual disregard of the law--it's open defiance of it. And once I was clear of those dreaded blue lights, I was back to my old tricks. In fact, I was going faster than before for the sole purpose of openly defying the law. What's more, I have to admit it felt good. I liked it.
But I was reminded of Paul's saying that we're supposed to be in this world but not of this world, as he says in Romans 12, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And I was behaving just the way the world would expect me to, shaking my fist in anger and pitching a good old-fashioned hissy fit.
I was also reminded of Paul's instruction in Romans 13, that everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established....he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. So according to Paul, the Fuzz is an agent of God!
Finally, I remembered Paul's constant admonitions to avoid living into our sinful desires, especially Romans 8 in which he says, for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Breaking the law to thumb my nose at The Man was clearly not turning away from sinful desires or being led by the Spirit. Thanks, Paul!
So this morning I tried to drive the speed limit to work, which led to being fifteen minutes late and being honked at, tailgated and having more than one middle finger waved at me in anger.
Of course, Jesus repeatedly made it clear that if you want to commit a sin then it's as if you've committed it already, and I certainly didn't want to obey the speed limit. But at least I paid my fine this morning. After all, Jesus said "Render unto Caesar..." Then again, I didn't really want to do that, either.
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Comments (21)
Where do you live? 55 on the highway?
60--70 is our speed limit.
I got pulled over for doing 62 in a 40. Now I do 45 on that road. :P
To save gas I go 60. I used to go 70+ in a 55.
Good post. I really liked it.
and... yea.... I lived in KC... and then moved to Springfield (much smaller, and slower, but still maintainable). Now I'm down in a town that is about 6,000 people small.... my apartment is on a 25 mph road..... it KILLS me.... I try pretty hard to go 25 because 3 cops live on our road..... but man, it's driving me crazy! haha
I just drove the speed limit for several years. Now I drive ~5 mph over. I'm not fully resolved on the issue. On one hand, the letter of the law is pretty clear. On the other, there is "what the law states" and "what the law allows." And sometimes slower drivers cause more traffic congestion and such, which imo is going against the purpose of the law in the first place.
as a person who walks everywhere in town with a two year old, I get really upset with drivers who do not obey speed limits. Those limits are set to keep us all safe, and when you drive like an idiot you are putting my life and the life of my child at risk.
I used to have a habit of rolling through stop signs instead of coming to a complete stop. On evening I was very tired and roled through a stop sign and nearly hit an on-coming car.
That car just happened to be a police car. Uh-boy.
I drive 5 over, usually. It keeps other drivers from getting too angry and I feel fully in control of my car, and police give a 5-mph window where I live... it's never occurred to me that it's sinful as long as I'm looking out for the good of others.
Agreed 100%. It is our nature to challenge the structure and push the limits at times. We are all guilty of that to some degree, I should think.
@Lil_Firefly_25@xanga - I don't know where this person is from, but all in Chicago and the surrounding areas, the highway speed limit is 55.
I don't speed because I want to rebel against the government... if I wanted to do that there are plenty of more interesting ways to do that :P
I speed because honestly, the speed limits are stupid.
@stuartandabby@xanga - Agreed. I think if it was more clear cut, that what they allowed and what the law states were the same thing, it would be easier. I like to drive pretty fast on our interstates. Thing is, the one time I got pulled over for it, I was actually going less than 10 over. Usually it was way more than that, and it was the same for everyone else driving, minus your random person who likes to drive the speed limit. It's just inconsistent.
The reason there are speed limits are to minimize accidents as much as is possible and to keep them less deadly if they do occur....and to save gas. If someone dies or is ruined for life because I am selfishly driving as if I own the road, I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life.
I drive 5 miles over almost all the time, and it's never been a problem for me. If I go any slower than that, people do get really upset....sometimes they still do when I'm going 60 (or a bit over) on a 55mph road. Of course I have gone over the speed limit by quite a bit, usually because I'm not really paying attention, but I always slow down when I realize it, and I don't speed intentionally. Of course, I don't consider 5mph over as "speeding"....
@ELIZerson@xanga - Actually, you can go 65 on some of the highways surrounding Chicago...not all of them, but Illinois' max speed limit is 65
I'm one of those irritating people who actually go the speed limit. Cruise control is my friend. :) For most of the reasons that you stated above, actually. Also... I live in NC, but my car is still registered in Texas, and if I got pulled over that would be added onto the speeding ticket as an extra fee. :P
Heh. Funny story: my husband once gave a devotional at a Sunday night service that briefly referenced speeding and why you shouldn't do it- to a congregation where most of the people own souped up trucks. They laughingly referred to that ONE point for MONTHS.
I usually drive the speed limit, which around here is 62 mph (100 kmh) on state roads and as fast as you dare on the Autobahn.
@LoBornlyte@xanga - Oh, no! That happened to a good real-life friend of mine. Not fun!
The threat of a citation and fine sure works for me. I live in fear of getting a ticket when I'm on the road and so I rarely speed more than two miles per hour over the speed limit, and even that only by accident. (My cruise control is broken, anyhow.) I live in a small town which employs a rather large police force and it's rare that I drive far at all without seeing a cop car. So far I've never been pulled over for speeding and I hope my good fortune continues.
Frankly, I drive the speed limit to about 5 over. To me, there is just no reason to go faster than that. If I'm supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, I leave as early as possible to get there on time. Also, if people honk at me or get mad about me doing that, I don't really care. At the end of the day, if I got a speeding ticket, the people honking at me don't have to pay it, I will.
I used to legalistically drive only the speed limit and stay in the left "fast" lane--for if this was the limit, technically I was going as fast as anyone should--the speeders could go around me or tailgate me all they want! Hmph.
That is, UNTIL a Christian patrol officer friend informed me this was not right and I should stay in the slow lane, even by the law's own viewpoints. Hmm.
Over time I readily sped as much as 30 over..until I got 2 tickets in one month and realized I was not immune to tickets and as readily adept at spotting cops as I once thought. NOW..I try to stick between 5-10 over most times--any less and you get run over, including by the law's drivers!