what you're seeing is a different kind of breakdown of law-and-order. instead of not enough regulation to the point of anarchy, at a certain point a highly bureaucratic highly regulated system gets to the point of over-regulation. instead of reducing "crime" it perversely increases. this isn't "goofy", it's very predictable and certainly can be dangerous.

take california where this kind of speeding is rampant.

- it has very regressive speed laws compared to other western states with similar roads. it has 55mph maximum for trucks (and cars) pulling trailers and on two-lane. 65mph anywhere else maximum. most neighboring states have eliminated split speed limits and have 75 or 80 max.

- it has a comparatively large, very professional highway patrol (CHP). it certainly isn't for lack of enforcement capability.

- a very large population (39M) means state politics is a combination of huge bureaucracy and big money. there's a proposition system, but even that is essentially inaccessible without lots of money. even if something good did start organically, by the time it was mangled by the self-serving politicians it'd end up worse than where it started.

- california has roads and drivers. lots and lots of both. and lots of urban sprawl too. nearly everyone has to contend with it, like it or not.

so the reason "everyone" responds to this by exceeding the limit, is that it's easier than the alternatives. a majority of the drivers "realize" (to some extent) that they have approximately three options:

a) drive the speed limit and get punished by other drivers and sometimes law enforcement [1],

b) same as a, but make it one's life mission to change the laws effectively, or

c) put your foot in it and go with the flow of the herd. even if there were 10x the CHP presence, they can't stop everyone.

there are so many people who vote this way with their accelerator pedal, that if you go with the flow of traffic even if it's 20mph over the posted limit for 10 years you might not get a ticket. if you ever do, no harm, no foul: you were simply randomly selected for the "extra road tax".

this is a different kind of democracy. it's very "direct" and very real time. the rules aren't written down, but they aren't imaginary either. in short, it's the polar opposite of the dejure government system. it's actually extremely democratic: one car, one vote for the "correct" speed.

of course there are outliers and "criminals" in this society: the guy in the black mercedes who "doesn't give a shit" and wants to go as fast as he can. his concern for the other drivers is as slalom obstacles. AND ALSO the guy who sets his speed control to whatever the sign says and becomes an obstruction. they are both ignoring the other drivers and thumbing their nose at the rules of that society.

it's a lot worse than "goofy". when you've conditioned people that the "right" way to effect change in government, whether democracy or not, is defacto closed-off and inaccessible. and then there's a problem, people will organically find a way to fix the problem. if the cheapest easiest way is simply to ignore the dejure government rules en-mass, that's what will happen. it's hard to imagine how to "get back" from it, if that's what you want. it's a testament to the unprofessionalism, selfishness, and pure stupidity of our elected officials that they've ignored this possibility allowed it to cross that line.

as for speeding, if california would post really reasonable speed limits, a larger group of people might find it "not worth it" to go faster than posted. perhaps they didn't really want to go faster in the first place. you'd have to make this a solid majority in order to cause the pirate society to fail. it doesn't seem that likely. it's pretty cheap to just ignore something.

[1] if you drive substantially slower than the "herd", perversely you will draw more CHP attention and be more likely to be pulled over. are you drunk? is your car unsafe? are you on the phone? violating CVC 24000? are you unlicensed or uninsured? are you simply the first/slowest car the motor-officer catches up to, and therefore a safer/faster option to get to the next doughnut?