The Top 40

The hell you say! Darwin's Theory will certainly be tested.

That's great news for smugglers...

Hey, have you driven across Texas? We're not talking about inside the Dallas city limits. Besides, it's a giant middle finger to DC, the insurance companies, and Jimmy Carter.

I'm with Casca. I have driven across Texas a few times (El Paso to Texarkana-- about 780 miles one way) and the Interstates out west past Dallas get pretty long and straight.

Probably about the most depressing highway sign I have ever seen is about an hour east of El Paso: "Dallas 521 miles". That's an all-day drive at 60 miles an hour, and you're still in the same freakin' state.

My only worry is tires-- a lot of cars, while mechanically capable of going 80-85 miles an hour all day, don't often have tires that are rated for sustained running at such high speeds. I predict a lot of blow-outs until drivers wise up and get better tires.

Hale Adams
Pikesville, People's Democratic Republic of Maryland

On selected routes only. Not the entire state.

Las Vegas to Reno is 450 miles and used to be a four or five hour drive for many folks. We had no speed limit in Nevada until jimmy carter put up the the 55 signs. The mortality rate did not drop.

If we actually did road maintenance instead of diverting Highway Trust Fund money to imaginary bullet trains, we could justify 90 mph in many areas.

James Wilson has a good point. In this, at least, we can put away the "Jimmah the Second" idea.

My longstanding proposal: Sell "Unlimited" licenses at a high price, based on the Concealed Carry system -- attend an approved course and show insurance (perhaps a larger policy than for a normal license), and you can stick a placard in the window and "maintain a safe and reasonable speed".

Regards,
Ric

Empty roads can be deceiving. There you are, relaxed and cruising along in the great, flat, empty, nowhere. And suddenly sheep in camo materialize on the road...

85 mph is already normal cruising speed on some highways, even though the speed limit may be 80, or even as low as 75.

Sammy looks like he was dressed by Ronald McDonald in that video.

For. The. Love. Of. YHWH.
Please. Quit telling them to move to Texas. We've finally made peace (mostly) with the mexicans, and now we've got waves of yankees and west coasters dropping in, with the inevitable "You know, back in (CA, WA, IL, NY, MA, etc) what we did was" and I break in and say "What you did was FUBAR the entire state."
(We're gonna hafta start charging admission...lots)
snark/off

Jes' remember, much over 65 you ain't driving that thang, your aiming it.

ed: Yah. I'd like to put up billboards at the border crossings:

WELCOME TO TEXAS
1. Remember why you left home.
2. We don't do that here.

Regards,
Ric

Thanks, Ric. As you can see I've made a prototype out of your copy.

I remember driving across Texas when the national speed limit was double-nickel. "Interminable" is the word that comes to mind, even though I had a car that was built for European roads could have easily handled a much higher speed. But noooo, the Washington do-gooders thought they knew what was best for the rest of us, and that wasn't an option.

I've driven across TX numerous times. One time it was 800-900 miles. The bad news is that in the areas that are likely to get the higher limit the roads are so rutted you can do that speed, you just can't change lanes without getting launched 40 feet into the air. Although, the deep ruts do make it easier to crawl into the back seat and look for something in your suitcase without having to slow down.