Quote Of The Day: The Lambo Defense Edition

"But that aside, why should anyone, even gearheads, cheer the judge’s ruling??? I’m all for having fun while driving, but if you’re going to drive at or near triple digits, do it at the track, not on public roads." We cheer it because it is a rare victory for common sense---namely, because the notion that 100 mph is too fast for public roads is absolutely laughable for most of the civilised world. North America, perhaps not surprisingly, is almost quaintly slow to move on from driving at quaintly slow speeds. I don't know if this amusing skittishness about speed is a lack of confidence on the part of American and Canadian drivers or not, but at some point, surely the realisation that it is not, in fact, the early 1970s anymore (and that 100 mph is not even close to being at the outermost limits of the average car's safe operational capabilities anymore) will sink in, and people will actually be able to get where they are going in a reasonably brief amount of time in the Colonies. Americans, at the mere mention of triple digit speeds, are forever nervously interjecting "But...but...who actually has to get anywhere THAT fast? Why not just leave an hour earlier?"...at which point I wonder aloud exactly what the hell the point of having a car is in the first place, if not to cover greater distances in less time than walking. I also wonder what kind of imbecile presumes to know the relative importance of my journey before I even set off on it, based solely, I suppose, on whether or not they, personally, are inclined to get where *they* are going in a hurry. "I dawdle, and thus, you can too!". Jesus wept... (And no, travelling at speed does not by definition suggest contempt for the life and liberty one's fellow road users. Travelling at speed and behaving like an unpredictable dickhead certainly does, but let us be absolutely clear that they are emphatically not one and the same) But I digress. Europeans tend to eat slowly and drive quickly, and Americans, seemingly, live their lives very much in reverse (for reasons that will continue to mystify me for the rest of my days...). That isn't true of every American, of course, anymore than it's true that every Italian drives at 130 mph...hmmm...come to think of it, that last one is a piss-poor example. Okay, scratch that. It isn't true that every Frenchman, then, drives at a constant 130 mph. But many, many do. People just like you, and me, and him and her, with dogs and cats and kids in tow. Because they simply want to get where they are going as quickly and as comfortably as is humanly possible. Millions do, and our societies still stand. They don't drive like maniacs, by and large. They just press the pedal on the right a little further to the floor. I do not argue that driving at maximum velocity is always appropriate, or indeed even usually appropriate. And I certainly don't advocate it through school zones and residential communities, or for that matter in inclimate weather (for the record, I tend to drive under the posted limit in rain or snow). But I do very much take issue with the ridiculous, antiquated notion that one hundred miles per hour on public roads amounts to lunatic behaviour. It's silly, it's childish, it's delusional, and it's flat out wrong. And it does indeed reflect rather poorly on the people who continue, as late as the year 2010, to maintain that point of view.