I, too, tend to sew full speed ahead. At one time, when I was looking at upgrading my serger, I asked the dealer about the top of the line model. He looked at me and said,"You don't want that one. The only differences between that one and this one, are 2 features you won't/don't use and about $200." One of the features which he knew I would have very little if any use for was a speed reduction feature.
I have sewn over pins for a long time, when making clothing. It works fine for some things. However.... There are a number of reasons for not sewing over pins. One is the "hit the pin with the needle" problem. Which is actually several problems. Breaking the needle, possibly messing up the timing of the machine, possibly messing up the needle bar assembly, and bending the pin into the innards of the bobbin assembly, which can cause all sorts of problems. (Don't ask, and it was expensive then, I shudder to think what it would cost to fix now. news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...