{"id":3840,"date":"2015-03-19T12:59:03","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T18:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/?p=3840"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:03","slug":"move-along-nothing-to-see-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/move-along-nothing-to-see-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Move Along. Nothing To See Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a new state slogan idea for the South Dakota department of tourism:<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Faces, Great Races.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"speed<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s right folks, we admit there\u2019s nothing in our state to see or savor between Sioux City and Fargo or Sioux Falls and Rapid City so we\u2019ve jacked up the speed limit to 80 (which, as we all know, probably means 90 wink wink) allowing you to hammer down and put our boring state in your rear view mirror in record time. \u00a0\u00a0Why heck, if you have a huge enough gas tank and enormous size bladder..you could probably \u201cwiz\u201d across South Dakota without ever having to stop at all.<\/p>\n

What amazes me is how this little bit of legislation, tagged on to a gas tax and license plate fee increase, flew through the state capitol and across the governor\u2019s desk faster than a toupee in a tornado.<\/p>\n

State highway people are out in force hoping to get the 250 or so speed limit signs changed from 75 to 80 within in the next couple weeks. Apparently the \u201cminimum\u201d limit will remain at 40 M.P.H.\u00a0 \u00a0which means those who, for reasons of safety or economy, choose to plug along closer to the minimum than the maximum, will feel even more heat from annoyed drivers extending a one finger salute as they woosh by at\u00a0 90. \u00a0Oh, and those truck drivers who regularly hold up the show blocking both lanes in their feeble attempts to pass one another? Well, I expect they\u2019ll infuriate newly empowered lead foots even more now.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A familiar sight along every interstate in the country.<\/p><\/div>\n

By the way, I just learned that many..if not most..trucks have speed limiters..or governors..installed on their engines restricting how fast they can go. In fact, a measure mandating those speed limiters is awaiting final approval in Washington. I\u2019m not sure what their maximum speed will be..or is; 68 is what I\u2019m told. It’s also not clear if the new rule, to take place in June, will apply to all big rigs on the road or just the new models. What I do know is that we can expect no end to road blocks by 18 wheelers as they try in vane to get around another semi set at the same exact maximum speed. From what I\u2019ve read, truck drivers detest speed limiters while fleet owners love \u2018em citing publically that it\u2019s all about safety while they pocket profits from lower diesel fuel consumption.<\/p>\n

I know a lot of you couldn\u2019t be happier about this newly granted freedom to pour on the cobs, but I\u2019m wondering if this could be a different kind of speed trap. Suppose the highway patrol no longer looks the other way at drivers who fudge the current limit by six or seven miles an hour and start nailing you for ANY reading on their radar that\u2019s over 80. That would put a lot of extra money from fines into the road and bridge kitty, I\u2019ll bet.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut officer, I was only doing 82.\u201d \u201cSorry, sir, no excuses any more.\u201d \u201cSo I was actually able to get places faster when\u00a0 it was 75?\u201d \u201c That\u2019s about it, sir. Here\u2019s your ticket. Have a nice day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, great, another excuse for road rage; ticked off truckers vs speeders who\u2019ve just had their pockets picked.<\/p>\n

Of course it\u2019s all a moot point anyway. With all the new money for road and bridge construction, fired-up motorists who are seeing red..will likely be seeing more orange instead….as in barrels and cones where the speed limit is 45 and fines are doubled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a new state slogan idea for the South Dakota department of tourism: \u201cGreat Faces, Great Races.\u201d That\u2019s right folks, we admit there\u2019s nothing in our state to see or savor between Sioux City and Fargo or Sioux Falls and Rapid City so we\u2019ve jacked up the speed limit to 80 (which, as we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11576,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions\/11576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}