Driving speed

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

Where in Wyoming, or anyplace else, is there a 65MPH limit posted on a dirt road? I've been driving for over fifty years and I've never seen one.

It isn't posted.

It's the maximum speed limit set by Wyoming state statute on all the roads that aren't posted, which is most of the county roads throughout the state. The only signs you'll see are on the county roads where a lower speed limit has been assigned.

We have a few with lower speed limits around here because the local residents complained to the county commissioners about so many folks "speeding" on the roads nearby, or the commissioners reacted to serious accidents upon certain sections of road. So, we have an absolutely ridiculous 30 mph posted on one road that's heavily traveled as a main road off an interstate frontage road intersection with a rural subdivision there ... and only 4 roads that cross it in the space of 3 miles, 2 of which "t" at the main dirt road.

But that's what the residents asked for at the public meetings, and the commissioners were only too happy to oblige. Nobody, not the residents, nor the school buses, nor the county sheriffs go that slow, and most of the residents that I've seen there don't stop at the stop signs they asked for, either. I know that anytime I see a plume of dirt/dust coming down the roads there to slow down and expect that the cross traffic will not stop at their stop sign ... and I'm rarely disappointed. The local folks "know" that there's not a lot of traffic on those roads ... and depend upon that for their driving decisions. I think their big upset was due to a couple of harvest seasons when semi's loaded with sugar beets were cruising past them frequently at 75 mph, heading to Torrington via "back country" roads to avoid the lower speed limit posted paved roads in the area.

We have a few county dirt roads posted at 45 mph, and a couple at 55 due to "open range" or higher traffic density. But for the most part, on the flats in dry weather, 65 mph is not excessive or unrealistic ... until you come to those areas with cross traffic with no stop signs or limited sight distance of possible other traffic on roads that are narrow enough that one has to be careful with two vehicles passing each other. You do learn to watch for the dust trail from other vehicles as a warning that somebody else is out there .... but you can't always count on seeing that dust trail, and you can't see it at night.

One also needs to take into account that livestock don't know where the "open range" ends, or the fences that are supposed to keep them in a pasture may not be holding them in ... there's a lot of times when a calf goes under a lower fence wire, and "momma cow" will work at the fence until she's through it to be with her calf. It's not uncommon for her to bring a bunch of her friends with her ... and you know, that grass a few yards away on the other side of the road looks awfully good to her. And the mulies don't know that they're not supposed to be in the road, either. Or you've got a neighbor with a few horses that like to roam when he's not feeding them very well .... and they don't know the "rules of the road".

[Metamucil]

Originally Posted by TKS64

I got this idea by driving through Wisconsin, of course! Where would you think I got the idea? By the way, I was using a hyperbole. I know it isn't literally that bad in Wisconsin. But compared to other states that I have driven through, the drivers in Wisconsin seem to be very obedient about the limit, and not very respectful of those who choose to speed. That was my point. Heck, just the fact that the limit is still 65 while much of the rest of the country has upped it to 70 or 75 (and even 80 in west Texas) shows that most Wisconsonites think we should all drive very slowly...

I apologise as this is a bit off topic but again, you're totally wrong. I routinely drive 70 in a 65 and will get passed all the time. In an hour long trip I may pass literally 2-3 people. Everybody else passes me.

Using hyperbole is one thing but you came off as serious.

states like Wyoming or the the great plains, Dakotas, or flat west Texas have higher speeds b/c they're wide open, there are many small towns you have to slow down for in WI and the landscape is much different.

19 times out of 20 I'm tailgated when going 5 over the speed limit in WI in all situations, it's become epidemic. Almost nobody here drives the speedlimit or even close to it.