I host a podcast about driving safety—and I just got a speeding ticket.
I was driving down a familiar hill in Clermont, Florida, when a sheriff’s deputy clocked me going 57 mph in a 40 mph zone. I wasn’t intentionally trying to speed. In fact, I was already braking. But I was also slightly late, distracted by a work situation, driving a road I know extremely well, and simply wasn’t paying enough attention to how much speed my car had gained.
Then I posted about the ticket on Facebook.
More than 150 comments later, I had accidentally started a debate about speeding, speed traps, downhill driving, police enforcement, personal responsibility—and whether someone who gets a speeding ticket should even be hosting a podcast about driving.
In Episode 71 of Mastering the Commute, I’m breaking down exactly what happened, what I got wrong, why I was frustrated, and what the reaction taught me.
There’s an important distinction between explaining a driving mistake and excusing one. I was responsible for my speed. But simply saying “don’t speed” doesn’t teach us much about why otherwise careful drivers sometimes find themselves traveling much faster than they intended.
We’ll talk about how familiarity with a road can reduce your attention, how being late can subtly affect your driving decisions, how downhill grades can cause speed to creep up, and how a distraction can continue occupying your mind even after you’ve put the phone away.
And I’m going back to the same hill with my dashcam to take another look at what happens there—this time while making sure I stay within the speed limit.
Sometimes the best driving lesson comes from somebody else’s mistake.
This time, it came from mine.
Learn more and find more episodes at DriveSmarterNow.com.
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