Oh My God, Police Activity!

Heading up the expressway on the way home I was in heavy traffic, but it was moving at about 60 MPH. Around a bend and on the right was a state police officer standing outside his vehicle writing a ticket for the little sporty looking car in front of him that I would assume he just pulled over. The speed limit on this expressway is 55 MPH. What do people do the moment the see that police car with flashing lights going? I'm sure the guess is slow down and that's right! They do, they slow down, way down, to about 45 MPH.

Okay! First of all the speed limit is 55 MPH. There is no reason for anyone to be slowing down to 45 MPH unless they are in imminent danger of colliding with something in front of them, which they weren't. Secondly the officer probably pulled the perpetrator over for excessive speed. I honestly doubt that officer saw a car going 60 MPH and out of the dozens going by at that exact speed decided to pull this particular one over. No, they were probably going excessively fast and likely lane dodging as well. Thirdly, the officer has pulled a vehicle over, is outside of his vehicle concentrating on writing a ticket! He's not going to hop back into his car, leaving his current target behind, to pursue someone else for driving 60 MPH. If someone were to blaze by him at 90 MPH, yes, he might just be inclined to do that, but not for 60 MPH.

So now the ripple has begun. This brainless slowing down for no reason has now doomed hundreds of drivers for several miles back down the expressway as that 45 MPH braking ripple proceeds backwards through the traffic back until there is a sizable gap between vehicles. It is completely uncalled for and just wastes everyone's time. I really don't understand it! People have to get over this paranoia or whatever it is. They just need to keep on driving. I can pretty much guarantee that if it was some broken down hunk of junk on the side of the road with a distraught driver standing outside that most people passing by wouldn't even give it a second blink of the eye.