[valiumnopresc]

In flyover country, it's not unusual to drive hundreds of miles and not see another car. Sophisticated people just can't grasp that.

There are already two very small stretches of interstate in Utah and Montana where the speed limit is 85 mph. Been that way for several years.

Note: Actually, Sammy "crooned" that song long before his Van Halen days. Just sayin...

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...it-in-nation/1

Texas considers highest speed limit in nation

By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

As lead singer of Van Halen, Sammy Hagar once crooned, "I can't drive 55." To show how far things have come, now some Texans aren't happy about only driving 80 miles per hour. The Legislature is considering raising the maximum speed limit to 85 mph, highest in the country.

The Texas House of Representatives has approved a bill that would raise the speed limit to 85 mph on some highways. The bill now goes to the state Senate, the Austin Statesman reports.

We suspect Sammy, shown at right back in 1995 when California raised its speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph, would be pleased.

Texas currently has more than 520 miles of interstate highways where the speed limit is 80 mph, according to the Associated Press. The bill would allow the Texas Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit on certain roads or lanes after engineering and traffic studies are conducted. The 85-mph maximum would likely be permitted on rural roads with long sightlines.

[wantedLOX]

What in the world does this have to do with the price of eggs?

[jarsbars]

Actually, the national speed limit standards most states adhere to are the product of data showing that at lower speeds, single-car accidents and rollovers kill fewer people. They're not about traffic congestion, more about people dozing off at the wheel or swerving to avoid an animal or debris in the road at higher speeds where they're more likely to loose control of their vehicle.

[CoenceLomneedtrue]

As a former co-worker of mine once said, "You haven't lived until you've done 120 through a cornfield." He was referring to being a passenger in a car driven by someone who fell asleep at the wheel in Kansas, and whom he woke by shouting that there was a car making a turn in front of him.