The five-ninety nine-twenty five rule

 

 

 

If everyone is driving five miles per hour above the speed limit, there is a 99% chance that upon seeing a cop, they’ll all drop to twenty miles under without giving adequate warning.

In the spirit of Andy Rooney’s 50-50-90 rule, Trifecta has asked us to come up with our own probability equations.

About jesterqueen:
Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order.

Comments

The five-ninety nine-twenty five rule — 51 Comments

    • I’ve got my own theory – those radar guns are up to five miles per hour off, and the cops know it, so as long as I don’t set a new flight pattern, I’m not in danger. Which means I’m the one at the back of the psychological traffic jam rolling her eyes. But I’m also a slow driver anyway, so it’s probably the faster drivers’ revenge.

  1. Jessie, this is so true it almost hurts. My former bro-in-law warned me to slow down but never hit your brakes, because police will assume you were going WAY over the limit.

    Of course, he has a lot more points on his license than I do, and he spends a lot of time in those “driver rehab” boring afternoon programs, so I do what I want!

    Great take on the prompt, hon. Like this very much. Amy
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  2. Pretty true… pretty true (unless you’re driving in Alberta where the speed limit is 120 km/hour and driving over 140 following a cop doing the same speed, then he’ll just wag a finger in your direction and wave you on)

    I love your treatment of this topic! 🙂
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  3. So true, Jester! Just experienced it on a drive to and from Orlando yesterday. Well done, my friend.

    • I’m a teensy bit jealous that you live within driving distance of Orlando. Technically, I do to. But eight hours means it’s not an overnighter.

    • Down here, it always seems to be twenty. The road will be surging along at 75 in a 70 zone and the cop pops up poorly hidden, and suddenly, we’re all going fifty. I’m like, “Dude, they’re looking for speeders, not Grandmas.”

  4. I think that everyone who has ever driven on the highway can attest to the accuracy of your piece. Been there, done that, will probably do it again tomorrow sometime. 🙂 Good, concise work.

  5. Well that is a truism if ever I’ve heard one. I’m not a fast driver myself partly for this reason. You’re moving along and all of a sudden the cars in front slow down way too fast! Nicely done, Jessie. Got us all thinking about it!

    • Yeah – I’m not particularly fast myself. But I go with the flow of traffic as much as possible, as that’s safer typically than being the fastest or slowest car out there.

    • It’s a hard habit to break. We once got pulled over because my husband, who was barely speeding, saw the cop and hit the brakes. He doesn’t believe this is why we were flagged.

  6. Somewhere along the line the speed limit in my head became “speed limit +5.” I wish it was more general knowledge so we don’t have silly peeps giving themselves up right in front of the cops!
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  7. I actually watched a cop play with some folks on the highway yesterday. He was going about 53 in a 60. No one would pass him! (I woulda!)
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  8. This is true, and it bugs me. I do a lot of freeway driving and I always drive over the speed limit. If I see a cop, I just go less over the speed limit. I figure as long as I’m not driving like an idiot, they’ll leave me alone. So far, it’s worked.

    P.S. Sometimes they will drive slow on the road. I’ll pass them going up to five miles over. No problem 🙂
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  9. This is the truest thing I’ve read today. 🙂 And it’s a great response to the prompt – you nailed the entire concept.
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    • Thanks Christine. I realized what I wanted to do when it happened in traffic, but it took mathman ten minutes to explain it back to me in logical terms.