Mea culpa, he he blush, I have to admit I'm in the semi-elite status
here (didn't make the century club, though). I was driving a rental
car down I-39 in central Wisconsin at a speed that I will not admit,
but that exceeded the posted speed limit by a considerable margin that
would probably interest my insurance company.

In my defense, I will say that it was Sunday morning, the weather was
clear, the road was dry, and the traffic was very light. Also, that
damn overpowered rental SUV, As far as I was concerned, it felt like I
wasn't going any faster than 70 mph. :-)

I will have to say that the local Sheriff's deputy who pulled me over
was very nice about it, despite my rather scruffy-looking appearance.
He only ticketed me for going 75 mph, which was a considerable savings
in fines and points, though it left a nice hole in my checking
account. It certainly got my attention. I pretty much kept under 70
the whole way back to Chicago.

Aside from bad attitudes, I think that some of the problem can be
attributed to the insistence by the auto industry and auto enthusiasts
on the marketing overpowered cars (Check out Motor Trend Magazine and
see what kind of auto performance they encourage.) Also, on certain
interstate highways in rural areas with low traffic, and under certain
weather conditions, it might be OK to post higer speed limits without
compromising safety and overall national fuel consumption.

On the other hand, people are definitely driving to fast in urban and
suburban areas, and all too often, "too fast" can be as low as 40 mph.

(Jeff nor Lisa) wrote in message . com...
Rather disturbing report from USA Today. People aren't just speeding
at extreme speeds more (over 100 mph), they're quite proud
of it. Not a particulary healthy attitude. But it does
indicate one of the troubling aspects of the motorists'
personality: once they get behind the wheel of a car,
even most caring sweetest person can turn into a monster.



See:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/2...3/5947930s.htm


USA Today found that:

USA TODAY analyzed 1.2 million speeding tickets issued in 2002 on
interstate highways in 18 states -- or about 40% of the interstate
system. When compared with similar tickets from 1991 and 1996, they
confirm what many suspect:

* We're speeding faster than ever -- in some cases, much faster.

* Even though highway speed limits have been raised by as much as a
third over the past decade, we speed further above these new limits
than we did above the old ones.

Most striking is the rise in extreme speeding -- driving over 90
mph, or 15 mph above any speed limit. In 1991, just 2% of ticketed
drivers topped 90 mph; in 2002, 10% did.

Even what police call ''The Century Club'' -- those driving 100 mph
or faster -- is getting much less exclusive. In 1991, just one
driver in 300 was ticketed at or above 100; in 2002, the ratio was
down to one in 100.