Fast times on the highways

We’ve been doing a fair amount of driving this year, from coast to coast, and while the country may be divided on a lot of political issues, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that speed limits are for sissies.

Whether it’s the beltway circling Washington, D.C., or Interstate 80 around Chicago, or the 405 in Los Angeles, it’s every man — or woman — for themselves on the highways.

It’s the same way on the two-lane roads through Iowa. The only people who drive the speed limits are old farmers out checking the corn on Sunday afternoon.

The problem with driving the speed limit on the interstates is that if you do, you could actually be a traffic hazard. On the first 20 miles of I-80 westward out of Chicago, the speed limit is 55 and 65. But the traffic flows at 80, even through construction zones. I-75 from Atlanta south to Florida is a three-lane parking lot moving at 80 or faster.

Not that I’m so virtuous, but I try to drive the speed limit for a couple reasons: it’s safer, and it’s more economical because fuel use increases 15-25% between 70 and 80 miles per hour. I’m nervous when I see a semi zooming up in my rearview mirror at that speed.

A few western states like neighboring South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana have 80 mph speed limits on their interstates, and you can drive 65 or even 70 on two-lane roads in some of these wide-open states.

I saw an interview on TV a year ago where a man who was driving 65 — the speed limit on a divided highway through Houston — was ticketed by police for driving too slow. The cop wondered if he had been drinking. The man replied no, he was just following the law, not the other drivers blowing by him at 80. The police officer said he was causing danger by not moving at the speed of traffic. The driver replied that the cops ought to go after the speeders, not him. I don’t know if the guy beat the ticket in court; I should hope so.

Speeding seems to be an American thing, although there are plenty of careless drivers around the world. Drivers in Europe toe the line when it comes to speed limits. When we visited Ireland a couple summers ago, we noticed almost zero speeding on their divided highways (the Irish call them “dual carriageways”). Tolerance for speeding is also tighter in Europe than the U.S. There is nearly zero tolerance in Switzerland, Italy, France and Netherlands, and fines are very high. In Finland, traffic fines are based on your income. A Danish driver was fined $129,544 for going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in Finland in 2023. In 2018 the same guy was fined $68,176 and in 2013 he was nailed $102,000. He’s chairman of a financial holding company in Denmark.

Germans are famous for their autobahns, where some stretches have no speed limits. But that is only for the far-left lane and you can only drive there when passing. Drivers in the center and right lanes are expected to observe speed limits, and you will get a ticket if you pass in the right lane.

New electric vehicles make speeding even easier, with Tesla cars able to accelerate from 0-60 in three seconds. Even Ford Lightning pickup trucks can hop from 0-60 in four seconds.

Everyone speeds, even cops. A friend of mine who was a police officer told me he had been stopped in Missouri for speeding. He showed his badge to the cop and mentioned he was a police officer himself back in Iowa. “Well, then, you should have known better,” the Missouri cop replied as he handed my friend the ticket. So much for professional courtesy.

I’ve had three speeding tickets in my 61 years of driving: about 15 years ago for going five over on a county blacktop south of Albert City; about 25 years ago for going five over on East Lakeshore Drive in Storm Lake; and in February 1978 a state trooper in Oregon ticketed me for going three over on Interstate 5 near Portland. I was entering the highway from a rest stop and accelerated slightly to merge into traffic. I wrote the court that I thought the charge was bogus; the judge agreed and returned the fine I paid without my having to appear in person. I don’t remember the judge’s name, but if I was President of the United States, I’d name him to the Supreme Court. A guy with common sense.