To break-up the day a bit and have a little fun, we sometimes surf the net for old songs and carton beginnings or whatever, and blast it over the speakers when there are no customers around.

Johnny Horton's "Sink the Bismark" got a lot of playing time, and the latest, after Scooby Doo, Mr. Custer, and Speed Buggy, was CW McCall's Convoy. There are various video versions of Convoy on YouTube, and it just gets us rolling!!!!

Yeah, and I bet there were driving 55mph in the left lane, in Kansas!

[NOTE TO ADMIN: Sorry, I just couldn't resist! My bad, I apologize and will sing CW McCall's song 20 times before I go to bed to make amends! Heck I'll even throw in one version of "Oh Lord, Won't Ya Buy Me A Mercedes Benz" by Janis for good measure! ]

What is different about rural areas?
A. Traffic congestion B. Run-off area (in racing terms) C. Visibility (its sort of flat out here)

I do believe that the interstate highway system was DESIGNED for traffic speeds of 75 mph....back when cars had mostly crappy brakes and tires. Ditches are mowed, wide enough and smooth enough it looks like you could drive off the shoulder into the ditch at 70 mph and drive back on...

Last road trip we were on, we were talking about the 55 limit. I slowed from the posted 75, to 55. My teenage sons broke out laughing. I dunno, I've spent enough time living the 55 (and seeing the nearly universal civil disobedience of it) to last a life time. For all those who REALLY WANT TO DRIVE 55 there is no rule against doing it now.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/hs01/hm41.htm

For the statistically minded.

55 is like prohibition. You cannot legislate good habits. The further you push doing things for the public good, the more you disinfrancise the public. And the more you see civil disobedience. It is like our campus going smoke free. It is not going to stop my smoking employees to quit smoking, but it could give them incentive to find other jobs. And you will find the police and other authorities unwilling to challenge smokers. What scares me is that at one campus location, the staff who smoke, have taken to going across a busy four lane street to smoke on the city side. Is the possibility of someone getting hit by a car worth it?

People usually know what speed is reasonable for conditions. If the speed limit is reasonable, an intelligent person will weigh the risks. If you treat people like they are too dumb to know what they need to do, they will thumb their noses at you.

Very well said seadog

The fight is usually over what proportion are disenfranchised, and how severe is the real hurt. Politicians love to blow smoke on both of those factors. When they're not actually fanning the flames ....

Kelly

Good Point. I got highway miles confused with number of bridges. We're further down on the highway list, but right near the top with bridges.

Sidetrack: FLB: Do you have population by state data in Excel format handy?

10-4 good buddy, we are going to pull into the next choke and puke and let them clear out, the seat cover has to go
10-100 anyway, catch you on the flip side.

Regardless of the laws, current or future, I have noticed a dramatic decrease in highway speeds here in the northeast lately. I think more people are doing the speed limit or less than ever before. I assunme it's for the same reason I am, dropping from 75 to 65 gives me 4-5 MPG in my Matrix. Dropping from 85 to 75 on my bike can mean 4-5 MPG too. At 65 in a 65 zone, I am often passing more cars than are passing me. Doing the limit does make for a stress-free drive.

The pa turnpike speed limit is 65, at 75 you get passed more than not.

I drive the speed limit and people will pass me left and right. I love it when they blow by me and then I catch up to them at the traffic light at the end of the ramp.

I drove to St Louis and back over the weekend, I74 & I55, speed limit 65 mph. I drove 63-65 to see how good the mileage would be on the Adm's CRV. I passed NO ONE!

Saw LOTS of IL State Troopers, giving out LOTS of tickets.

We just got back from a week down in NC. We drove the Excursion, as it makes a comfy road tripper. I was more interested in MPG than time, so we went between 62 and 65 the whole way down. We got passed by everyone including semis, no worries though, as we averaged 22 MPG including going through the Smokies.

On the way back we upped it 70 because we were tired and wanted to get home, got passed a lot less but only averaged just over 20 MPG. Not bad for a 4+ ton brick!