> "This is why getting slow drivers to stick to the right lane is so important to roadway safety; we generally focus on joyriders’ ability to cause accidents—and rightly so—but a car driving under the speed limit in the left (passing) lane of a highway is almost as dangerous."

i really wish people would heed this rule about slower cars staying to the right (regadless of speed). if you are not passing the car to your right, you should move to the right until you are, but many people scoot to the left lane and set their cruise control so they can zone out (and possibly occupy their brains with something else like talking to other people).

this would not only minimize speed deltas and reduce accidents, but it would also improve throughput as speedier traffic clears out faster. and drivers should never just zone out while operating a machine capable of killing people.

in any case, i both agree with the article--i actually think speed limits should be accurately set at the 85th percentile, called "suggested speed" or the like, and decriminalized--and support traffic calming measures in urban areas like narrowing lanes, adding more trees/curves, and making commercial streets mixed use by default.