We have now been on the road for two weeks and approximately 3500 miles. Today we reached Baltimore, Maryland where we are going to spend some time with Susan's Aunt Zena. I consider our travels to have reached coast to coast.
As we have driven interstates, state highways and county backroads, I have observed that nowhere in this country (with one exception) are the speed limit laws observed. More than 99% of drivers on the road (in my estimation) exceed the posted speed limit by at least 5 mph all the time. Many consistently tack on more than 5 mph. In my observations, even those warnings and threats about "fines are doubled in work areas" that you see wherever there is road construction are completely ignored by almost all drivers. Those signs are nearly always accompanied by reduced speed limits, but if drivers slow down at all, the best they do is to cut the 5 mph that they originally tacked on.
The one exception to my observation were the drivers in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The drivers there are, without a doubt, the most law abiding drivers anywhere in the US. The posted speed limit in the U.P. is 55 mph everywhere except near the towns where it is posted as lower (45, 35, 25 etc.). The Yoopers, as they like to call themselves, nail the speedometer at 55 mph and settle in for the long haul.
It is a 3.5 hour drive from Marquette to the bridge at Mackinac City where you pick up Interstate 75 going south to Detroit. It is unlikely that you will ever be able to exceed 55 mph for that trip, unless by some incredible stroke of luck you never get behind a Yooper. If you do get behind one, it is very difficult to pass, as the road is full of no passing zones and besides you will just move up behind another Yooper pretty soon.
As soon as you cross the bridge at Mackinac City, the speed limit jumps to 70 mph and every driver on the road immediately puts the hammer down and runs at least 75.
After crossing Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisonsin on interstate highways with speed limits of at least 70 mph (some at 75) and driving just as fast as all the other drivers, driving across the UP felt like we had entered a warp in the space and time continuum where everything seemed to be moving in a very thick liquid. It was a most frustrating experience.
Congratulations to all those law abiding Yoopers! I don't think that I could drive like that on a regular basis. I'm pretty certain that I would lose my status as a citizen of Southern California where exceeding the speed limit is considered a basic right guaranteed by the Constitution. I would probably explode.
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