Traffic Signs

Does anyone drive 55 miles per hour? I am pretty sure I am the only person who attempts that feat. Many times on Hwy. 11 going towards Monticello, I could swear that I had an International or Peterbilt attached to my bumper.

On Hwy. 212 going either direction, I see those big wheel trucks coming up in my rearview mirror and then pass me belching a large puff of black smoke out their dual exhausts as if to say, “Take that slowpoke!”

Are those big signs along the road with 55 stamped on them mere suggestions of a speed to travel?

My car speedometer goes all the way up to 140 miles per hour. Does this mean that my ‘05 Corolla could actually go that fast? Did someone test drive it at that speed? What is the point? My speedometer doesn’t even have 55 marked, it skips from 50 to 60.

Back in 1973 when we had a gas shortage, we were told to drive slower to save gas (never completely proven) and then the large 55 signs appeared. In a survey of “honest” drivers, 83 percent admitted they did not drive the speed limit of 55.

Many states have since raised their speed limits without much change in accident statistics or so they say.

Last week someone in one of those big trucks hit my rear bumper. I maintain they probably couldn’t see my car way down there. What speed were we going? Zero. I had stopped at a stop sign. Geez, does anyone stop at stop signs anymore?