> If everyone slowed down, there would be far more congestion backing up due to reducing the throughput of the road.
This isn't true. The greater the following distance, the more time a driver has to respond. More time to respond means fewer and gentler inputs. In turn, this reduces propagation to following vehicles, and as a result traffic moves faster. It's the difference between turbulent and laminar flow.
> I figure the lack of this happening means the public wants to make this risk vs convenience trade off.
Joe Public has never sat down to think this through, nor is he qualified to do so.
Joe Public decides this by demanding their politicians to not enforce speed limits. A campaign would be dead in the water the second it talks about having cops issue more speeding fines or install speed cameras or using toll times stamps to issue fines. The US public is not sufficiently scared of injury or death from collisions to make it a political priority.
> In turn, this reduces propagation to following vehicles, and as a result traffic moves faster. It's the difference between turbulent and laminar flow.
And in turn, this decreases the rate at which vehicles enter the highway, which backs up onto the streets that lead to the highway.
This isn't true. The greater the following distance, the more time a driver has to respond. More time to respond means fewer and gentler inputs. In turn, this reduces propagation to following vehicles, and as a result traffic moves faster. It's the difference between turbulent and laminar flow.
> I figure the lack of this happening means the public wants to make this risk vs convenience trade off.
Joe Public has never sat down to think this through, nor is he qualified to do so.