One of the less-remarked upon effects of the Covid-19 pandemic must be the demise of the speed limit. Driving California freeways feels like nothing so much as tearing down the Autobahn--or so I imagine: I've never actually driven on the Autobahn. I don't even know what the Autobahn is! Sometimes I just put letters together and see what happens.
Anyway.
But seriously, folks, I routinely find myself hitting 80+ on the highway, and I don't even feel it--don't even notice it until I happen to glance at the speedometer--primarily because, no matter how fast I'm going, cars routinely blow by me on either side. I might as well be driving an Amish buggy instead of my actual car (an Amish Prius--which is like a regular Prius, but with a large family and weird facial hair).
In the early days of the pandemic, this disregard for speed limits made a certain sense. The roads were comparatively empty. I once made it to work from Solipsist Central--about a ten mile drive--in about 47 seconds. Now, however, traffic is just SO February 2020. But people--including me, apparently--failed to get the memo.
I suppose increased average traffic speed wouldn't be the WORST thing to come out of the pandemic. Once we all have places to go again, might as well get there quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment