The example
Influenced by these examples that were at the time absolutely normal, I perpetuated this behaviour on the road. On many occasions, I drove way beyond the speed limit, sometimes to be thought cool by my friends, sometimes to show that I was not afraid, sometimes just to release pressure, or even at times to impress and/or scare a girl...
Yes, I admit it, I am human, weak and easily influenced.
In my twenties, I bought myself a Mazda RX-7 which gave me a taste of owning a sports car for my own use. I obviously tried to test its limits, therefore to go at its maximum speed, which I have done quite often, at night on autoroute 13. Later, I went through my '65 Mustang phase. Although a lot less stable car, it still invited me to speed. An invitation that I accepted many times.
But the culminating point in speeding career came about when a friend of mine sold me a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo. What a car that was! How much fun it gave me! How much trouble it got me in!
I won't lie, I loved this car. The feeling of driving this car was like a drug to me. And like all drugs, it cost me a lot of money. My last ticket cost me more than a grand on the 401. I've lost my driver's permit a few times because of my speed habit.
So, id you must know, I am far from having a virtuous past as a driver. That's why the rest of this article will be open to your criticism. I have decided to reveal my unsavoury past to show you that if you do not agree with me, I understand.
Speed limits...Why?
After these previous experiences, I slowly was made aware of the impact that driving habits had on the environment. I then started to question my own driving behaviour. What if this way that I thought cool and rebellious was in fact rather disconnected, egotistic, and even self-destructive? Noooo...Really! I have always been...I always wanted...I often helped...
What a shock. I discovered that my driving was irresponsible from a safety and environment standpoint.
After having digested this, I decided to behave as a more responsible citizen and driver. My first step was to start taking public transportation. The second one was to start using my bike and rollerblades again. The third one was to buy a hybrid car, and the fourth one was to respect the speed limit. All that in an effort to bring my fuel consumption down, therefore reducing my pollution and green gas emissions.
If the first three steps were quite easy and sometimes rather fun, the fourth one turned out to be a lot more complicated than I would have initially thought. Not because I couldn't restrain myself, since I now appreciated and enjoyed it, but because some others can't restrain themselves.
First example: The urban highway
Speed limit: 70 km/h
So I've decided after all these years to respect the speed limit. Since I often take urban highways, I started to follow the 70 km/h speed limit. Obviously, not being stupid, I made sure to stay in the right lane to let the two other lanes for people who wanted to go faster so everything would go smoothly, right?
Wrong!
On many occasions, I have been followed way too closely by different vehicles that seemed to be in a rush to pass from the right or to take the next exit at more than a 100 km/h, while it's clearly indicated that we are supposed to slow down as we take it.
Influenced by these examples that were at the time absolutely normal, I perpetuated this behaviour on the road. On many occasions, I drove way beyond the speed limit, sometimes to be thought cool by my friends, sometimes to show that I was not afraid, sometimes just to release pressure, or even at times to impress and/or scare a girl...
Yes, I admit it, I am human, weak and easily influenced.
In my twenties, I bought myself a Mazda RX-7 which gave me a taste of owning a sports car for my own use. I obviously tried to test its limits, therefore to go at its maximum speed, which I have done quite often, at night on autoroute 13. Later, I went through my '65 Mustang phase. Although a lot less stable car, it still invited me to speed. An invitation that I accepted many times.
But the culminating point in speeding career came about when a friend of mine sold me a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo. What a car that was! How much fun it gave me! How much trouble it got me in!
I won't lie, I loved this car. The feeling of driving this car was like a drug to me. And like all drugs, it cost me a lot of money. My last ticket cost me more than a grand on the 401. I've lost my driver's permit a few times because of my speed habit.
So, id you must know, I am far from having a virtuous past as a driver. That's why the rest of this article will be open to your criticism. I have decided to reveal my unsavoury past to show you that if you do not agree with me, I understand.
Speed limits...Why?
After these previous experiences, I slowly was made aware of the impact that driving habits had on the environment. I then started to question my own driving behaviour. What if this way that I thought cool and rebellious was in fact rather disconnected, egotistic, and even self-destructive? Noooo...Really! I have always been...I always wanted...I often helped...
What a shock. I discovered that my driving was irresponsible from a safety and environment standpoint.
After having digested this, I decided to behave as a more responsible citizen and driver. My first step was to start taking public transportation. The second one was to start using my bike and rollerblades again. The third one was to buy a hybrid car, and the fourth one was to respect the speed limit. All that in an effort to bring my fuel consumption down, therefore reducing my pollution and green gas emissions.
If the first three steps were quite easy and sometimes rather fun, the fourth one turned out to be a lot more complicated than I would have initially thought. Not because I couldn't restrain myself, since I now appreciated and enjoyed it, but because some others can't restrain themselves.
First example: The urban highway
Speed limit: 70 km/h
So I've decided after all these years to respect the speed limit. Since I often take urban highways, I started to follow the 70 km/h speed limit. Obviously, not being stupid, I made sure to stay in the right lane to let the two other lanes for people who wanted to go faster so everything would go smoothly, right?
Wrong!
On many occasions, I have been followed way too closely by different vehicles that seemed to be in a rush to pass from the right or to take the next exit at more than a 100 km/h, while it's clearly indicated that we are supposed to slow down as we take it.