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#1
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Meanwhile on the highways, "Lead Foot Nation"
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. |
#2
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Meanwhile on the highways, "Lead Foot Nation"
*snip tales of rampant stupidity*
One consolation to us "law abiding" drivers would be that of the 40,000 odd traffic fatalities that occur annually, that HOPEFULLY most of them will be drivers in this category. Sadly, however, these ****ing morons usually take someone else with them. SD |
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