Road Rules vs. Road Laws

I've been driving virtually every day of my life for almost 40 years. Most of it has been in California. Since the beginning some things about other drivers (never myself, of course), just annoy me like nothing else. I won't discuss them here -- yet. This is about the distinction between Rules of the Road vs. Laws.

In California at least, a distinction is made between Rules of the Road, and Laws governing driving. Rules basically cover commonly accepted behavior that make traffic work at all and apply universally, while Laws govern certain specifics. A good distinction is the direction we drive and the speed limit. Here in the US, we drive on the right-hand side of the road while in some countries, like England or Japan, they drive on the left-hand side. This is actually a Rule of the Road. The speed limit on a particular stretch of road is a Law. The speed limit on two different roads in California may be different, but everyone is expected to drive on the right-hand side of the road on both roads.

What bugs me the most is when drivers do not understand the importance of the distinction, and either ignore or do not understand the Rules of the Road. Rules are actuall more important. As a demonstration of this fact, let me present the following two scanarios. Assume that for each scenario we have the following conditions: you are travelling on a 4 lane road that goes North/South. Each direction has two lanes, a fast lane and a slow lane. The speed limit in each direction is 65 mph. You are travelling Northbound at 65 mph in the fast lane. You are obeying the Law, and following the Rules of the Road.

Scenario 1:
A car travelling North approaches you from the rear in your lane travelling 70 mph. The driver is breaking the Law, but following the Rules of the Road.

Scenario 2:
A car travelling South approaches you from the front in your lane travelling 55 mph. The driver is obeying the Law, but ignoring the Rules of the Road.

Which scenario makes you feel least comfortable?

Cheers!