Don't Flash You Headlights at Me...

...if I'm in the passing lane and I'm already driving 10 m.p.h. over the speed limit. You may not like what happens next.

After leaving the office to go home, I take a limited access, four-lane, divided highway for a short distance (approximately 5 miles). The posted speed limit is 40 m.p.h. and I usually drive 10 over the limit on this roadway. So I get in the left lane to pass a slower moving car and, as often happens, the car I am overtaking accelerates to my speed so I can't pass him; but everything's copacetic as we toodle down the road together.

Everything's fine until someone zips up the road right up behind me and decides I'm driving too slowly in the left lane and flashes his headlights at me. Let's get something straight, according to the law, I am not obliged to give way to a faster vehicle that is overtaking me if I am already at or over the posted speed limit.

The problem is most people think they are libertarians but they are really just egoists, and not ethical egoists at that. Let me explain: most people like to think that they are libertarian in thought, i.e., people are free to make decisions about what is right or wrong so long as they do not inflict harm or inhibit someone else's freedom. In reality, most people are egoists whose only concern is what they want for themselves.

Someone might say to me, "Stop calling the kettle black; aren't you a little bit of an egoist by imposing the speed you want to drive upon someone else?" But here's what people don't seem to understand: by applying for and accepting a driver's license, you have freely consented to be subject to the traffic laws. So, the driver behind me and I have both freely consented to abide by the posted speed limit of the road we were on. Therefore, the other driver has no cause to be upset with me when I was driving over the mutually agreed upon speed limit just because I wasn't driving as much over the speed limit as he wanted. However, it was wrong of the other driver to impose discomfort on me by driving up to my rear end and flashing his headlights at me. A true libertarian (or an ethical egoist) wouldn't do that, therefore I conclude that he was really just a jerk.

But back to my story: what happened next is what will always happen if you flash you headlights at me and I'm already doing 10 m.p.h. over the speed limit...I turned off my cruise control and let my car slow to the speed limit because I make no claims to be a libertarian or an ethical egoist.

So today's musing is: slow down, take it easy, and stop being a jerk on the highway.