I still can't explain exactly why, but the roads in western Washington (and particularly those on the east side of Lake Washington) are filled with courteous drivers who practically never speed.
It's a little odd traveling down the highway and noticing that the biggest differential between posted limit and actual speed is maybe maybe 7mph. The same is true around town: in a 35 zone, rarely am I passed, and these days, I drive right on the limit.
There's one exception: I-90 as it stretches east...although I consider this to be more eastern Washington than western Washington so that could explain things.
Honestly, it's refreshing. I was reminded earlier tonight how infuriating it can be to have idiot drivers on the road (someone passed me doing 40+ in a 35—the nerve!) and is yet another reason why I love living out here. These are, after all, my speed limits too.
Out here, its quite the opposite. Everyone speeds everywhere. For the most part, I don't even know what the posted speed limit is. The nice thing is despite the speed, most people are curtious. What I mean is, if I am going 65 in a 60, and someone wants to pass me, they wont ride my bumper until the opportunity arrises. They will usually hang back a normal, safe distance and pass when they can. If you see someone pulled over, it probably wasnt for speeding, unless they were doing ~25 or so over.
Yowsa. There's nowhere quite like New Mexico to expierence the best in idiotic tailgating.
You bring up another point I neglected to mention: traffic stops are really rare out here, too. Bonus.