Mr. Roadshow: Take a hike

The San Jose Mercury News has a column that I used to enjoy reading. It was Mr. Roadshow. It was pretty good, mostly entertaining. People would write in and complain about the timing of traffic lights, potholes, etc.

But lately, Mr. Roadshow has gone off the deep end. Not too long ago, he became a staunch supporter of the oil companies - assuring his readers that the companies were not gouging us, that they were not raising the price per gallon of gasoline for no reason. It's to cover their expenses, he assured us. And yet, they had record profits - is that because they overestimated their expenses? Right, whatever.

The other day he started a new campaign, to get people to drive 65. Friday, June 29 is "I drive 65" day. The Sunday paper even included a small sign that drivers can afix to their rear window that says "I drive 65."

WTF. Why do I need to afix a sign to my window to indicate that I'm going to be driving the speed limit? Should I also get a sign that says "I use my signal light?" And one that says "I stop at red lights?".

Please, stop. This is the law. It's not up for discussion. The law says that the speed limit is 65pmh, that's how fast people should be going (or slower - I get over 50MPG by driving 55mph).

Instead of people having people who drive 65mph putting a sign in their back windows, how about if people who speed put signs in their back window saying "I don't give a crap what the speed limit is, get out of my way!"

As long as I'm on the subject, something has been bothering me. California has this stupid law that says that if I'm driving along, at whatever speed, and there are people behind me who want to go faster, I have to get out of their way. Here's the thing...

Let's say I'm driving 65mph in the left lane. If someone is behind me, how do I tell whether they want to go faster than 65? Should I just assume they want to break the law? Isn't that sort of like presuming their guilt? Should I assume anyone who is behind me is conspiring to break the law (by speeding)?