[XAP]Bob wrote:The perceived saving is even greater in rush hour, when the actual saving is less...
We're rubbish at judging "time saved"
Agreed. I used to do a regular commuter-time journey (driving) and would often be overtaken when I was doing the speed limit. It was a very rare occasion indeed when I didn't catch up with the offender later in the journey- sometimes I was still behind them, or maybe one or two cars behind them, ten or more miles later. They might have got through the odd traffic light before it went red when I had to stop, but in the end, I'd still nearly always catch up with them at either lights or a roundabout. So for all that risk (often the overtake was completely blind, and they were breaking the speed limit anyway) they gained what- two seconds?
I was once 'holding up' a chap behind me (i.e., I was doing the speed limit on straight bits and somewhat less on bends, but getting harassment) when I drove round a bend in the road and had to brake as there was a fire engine stationary on my side of the road and traffic coming the other way. If I'd been speeding, or hadn't slowed for the bend, I couldn't have stopped in time, and the bloke behind couldn't have stopped in time - he was lucky to be able to stop as it was. Ironically, the reason the fire engine was there was a car upside down just off the road on the bend - it could have been a mechanical failure, but given that the road was notorious for stupid driving in both directions in the rush hour, I'd not like to bet on it.