Speed Demons, Enlighten Me

I am about to begin driver's training with my daughter, probably with Driver Ed in a Box rather than with one of those driving academy courses. Personal choice, but (frankly) the young drivers I have seen come out of those schools, and the horror stories I have heard from other homeschool parents about the lack of rigor in the coursework, has motivated that decision, but I digress…

The question for this blog entry is: what is with the recent fascination with speed? Almost every time I enter I-95 near my house, I need to drive 70 mph (at a minimum!) to keep from being run over by the other drivers who are easily traveling 75-90 mph. Mind you, the posted speed limit is 65 mph.

Where is the fire?! Are we all such poor time managers that we are constantly running late? Or are we all fantasizing that we are NASCAR drivers racing to win the Nextel Cup? What is it?! And (as is probably true) if I don’t “get it,” please explain it to me. I would really like to understand why my fellow drivers on the road are willing to risk their lives, and mine, by driving too fast?
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This posting is motivated by the fact that, last night, while returning from a movie, I saw yet another accident on the interstate. The guard rail on I-95 South between two exits near my home is mangled from all the cars that have either hit it, gone through it, or gone over it in the past few months. Some of the accidents have resulted in tragic loss of life; others have caused only short trips to the hospital. All of them have emotionally impacted the families involved, not to mention raised their insurance rates.