The rise of apprehensive drivers on Route 22

Apprehensive Drivers on Route 22
Written by NJroute22

The rise of apprehensive drivers on Route 22 (SLOW, TOO!)

Today’s post is about the sudden uptick in the number of apprehensive drivers in and around the NJroute22.com coverage area.

Something has happened. 

To us, it appears as if a spell was cast on a growing amount of drivers. Either that, or we just have had bad luck the past couple months?

Timid drivers who cannot make up their mind. Or people that both obey the speed limit signs, or even worse – go five to 10 miles an hour SLOWER than the posted “limit.” For long stretches!

Not just on Route 22, but especially on back roads

Okay, let me get one thing out of the way. The actual Route 22 isn’t so bad. Neither are any of the other main roads we talk about here on this site. There are multiple lanes, so traveling at a decent rate is possible most of the time, other than in traffic that happens in some spots. You can at least maneuver, right?

But on almost every drive, in any of the NJroute22.com Zones – we encounter some person who literally holds us back. Sure, it may only be a few minutes of time lost per se, but it’s worse than that.

It could be 10+ minutes of being stuck behind someone who’s crawling along at a snail’s pace. And this time can feel like an eternity, especially if it begins to frustrate you – in places that aren’t worth trying and pass them.

And no, we’re not those tail-gating jerks who honk and flash our high beams. But still, we sit there trudging along with an ever-increasing case of Tourette’s Syndrome.

What is happening to drivers? And why exactly?

Like I said earlier – it could be our bad luck. It has just started happening noticeably more frequently this year.

And it’s not just elderly drivers. It’s all demographics. Men. Women. Young. Old.

Is it the cell phone that is keeping their pace down?

Or are they afraid of the police? Sure, some municipalities are worse than others – but C’mon! Perhaps some subliminal messages are being propagated via social media, news, and television programming? I don’t know! We can only theorize, as we do not watch TV or ingest propaganda.

Each road has a natural and safe travel speed

If you’re a sensible and capable driver in any modern car less than 15 years old – you can adeptly travel on pretty much any road without worry.

And in case you didn’t pick up on this yet – almost ALL “speed limits” are grossly less than what is the natural speed of the road. You can figure out why. Because they’re unnaturally slow and easily susceptible to “breaking.” Which means someone profits, and it’s not you!

By natural speed, we mean a sensible travel rate. You know, where things are okay at that speed. You can control your car, react with enough time, etcetera.

A lot of politicians and other safety advocates have long been trying to slow the world down. With stupid memes like “25 keeps kids alive” and all that.

Most speed limits are ridiculously too low, and painful to abide by. But some saints in this world feel the need to obey. Whether they’re afraid of the armed enforcer (who grossly exceeds that safe speed to “catch” them), or just believe that that decreed limit is the right thing to do – doesn’t matter. They slow the rest of the world down as a result.

Sure, faster cars inflict more pain and injury. But common sense should prevail when you’re near a road that cars are meant to drive on, right? Playing flag football in a blind intersection in some city at night is just plain stupid, no matter the speed limit laws.

Every road I have the pleasure of riding solo (i.e., no idiot driver in front of me), it’s not uncommon for us to often exceed the “limit” by double or more. We’re just fine. Sure, there may be a time when we might have the unfortunate luck of striking a deer, we just hope our car is old enough not to have the speed at impact programmed into the car database. (Even more, reasons to consider a used car from the late 90’s or before!)

And of course, we know when it’s best to curtail our speed. On tight corners with limited visibility. Or in bad weather. In places with dense foliage with blocked see-through (i.e., winter is awesome driving at night). Driving spiritedly doesn’t mean driving carelessly or recklessly.

It may be a lost cause, however

At this juncture, our mindset may be on the trailing end of the pendulum, as the world nudges towards the safe nanny state, automated vehicles, and apps that tell you how to behave. And we will remain in this mindset until we die. However, we hope to also be here when the pendulum swings back.

That’s the benefit of being against the grain steadfastly. You have the chance at being a pioneer once again in the future.

 

Apprehensive Drivers on Route 22

About the author

NJroute22

NJroute22 (site admin) is an avid traveler along NJ Route 22 (and almost all of central New Jersey!) Family man, pet lover, and property owner who has a natural curiosity for everything around.