Posted on 04/25/2013 8:57:40 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The speed limit on the Intercounty Connector was recently raised from 55 mph to 60 mph. Should it go even higher?
The road—also known as MD 200—was designed for speeds up to 60 mph. But that's not stopping one Washington Post reader from insisting the state should turn the ICC into the American autobahn. The German highway allows drivers many long stretches of road without any speed limit.
In his letter to The Washington Post, Bethesda resident Brian Moore says it's a concept Maryland should at least consider:
(Excerpt) Read more at laurel.patch.com ...
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Make the speed 30 mph - it’s that’s the speed for maximum vehicle throughput.
The fact is that there are two sets of laws in this country and the *important* people can already drive as fast as they want. Just ask Jon Corzine or Fast Eddy Rendell. They would not want you to have the same privilege, and besides, there's too much revenue to be garnered from ticket writing.
The folks on the east coast need to get out more, and go where it takes a day at 80MPH to get from point a to point b.
Friggin yankees that think they know what the world looks like from their little slice....
/johnny
I’ve been out west, where a day trip takes you from the eastern part of Montana to the western part . . . if you’re lucky. :-)
Some parts around me, you get run over at 80.
Friend of mine travels to Germany every so often and he noticed that the sections with unlimited speed limits are getting shorter each time he visits.
/johnny
It’s about 11-12 hours from Austin to El Paso... a long 12 hours too.
I live in MD ...
The Inter-County Connector [ICC] is the BIGGEST boondoggle they ever came up with - for a $2.2B price tag.
Don’t get me wrong - its a GREAT road [to nowhere] ...
It is north of DC and runs E-W for about 20 miles. It connects the I-95 and I-270 Interstates, which run N-S.
Problem is that MOST people work down south in DC. So, no matter if you live off of either Interstate, you generally are travelling south to work in DC each day. You have NO reason to take the ICC E-W.
Less than 20K cars a day use it.
It is also a fairly expensive toll road [$4-$6 in rush hour] and has limited exits [2-3] to other roads between the Interstates.
As for trucks, they don’t use it because they get charged about $20 one-way. Cheaper to use either Interstate going south to hit the Beltway and then travel between them.
The ICC also DOES NOT pay for itself - contrary to what had been promised before this was shoved down our throats. So much so that the tolls on ALL the other toll roads and bridges in the state were raised to pay of the bonds for the ICC.
SO, travellers who DO NOT AND WILL NOT EVER use the ICC are helping to pay off its debt.
We are beginning to call this Guv O’Malley’s O’F*ck-Up ...
Sitting in my old chairforce chair with my unwashed coffee mug in front of me.... death happens no matter what you do. Doc that slaps your tookahs and makes you draw your first breath hands your mother your birth certificate and you, your post-dated death certificate.
We all die.
What matters is the stories you leave behind and how you are remembered.
Ok... pants on neighbor's roofs isn't the greatest memory, it's not like Alexander the Great.... but folks around here still talk about Gene, and he's been dead and gone for a while. ;)
/johnny
The ICC was approved under the Ehrlich administration. 20K to 30K cars per day use it on weekdays. However, that is clearly nowhere near capacity, from what I can see of the road when I use it (infrequently).
Drivers in Maryland and DC are accidents waiting to happen. You have illegals with no drivers licenses or insurance in rusted pickup trucks with all kinds of junk fastened insecurely to the back of the truck. You have brain dead government employees who change lanes without signaling and are oblivious to other drivers on the road. You have 3rd world immigrants, who should be riding goats or donkeys like their relatives, in unsafe 10 year old vehicles ignoring all the rules of the road. You have egotistical punks with no consideration whatsoever for other drivers with 120 decibel noise rocking their sound systems. You have self-absorbed people texting and twittering and Lord knows what with only minimal interest in what is happening on the road.
And that is on a nice, sunny day. Throw in some ice or a half an inch of snow and you have skidding, and sliding and cars in the ditch everywhere.
We don't need these people driving over 100 mph. They are not safe at 40 mph.
And, German drivers actually have to prove competence after a long and expensive license process. I’d put a “bad” German driver up against a crazy, passing in the slow lane faster than conditions driver in The States any day. In Germany, if you block the fast lane, ticket. Drink a big gulp while driving, ticket. Drive too fast for conditions, ticket. Then there are the vehicle inspections that would put half of American used cars in the crusher..
Lived in Switzerland and drove the autobahn quite a bit. I’ve been passed while driving 140 mph (daylight, clear road - very long sight lines), highest I ever drove was 150 though my wife was very unhappy (the kids loved it). Great roads, built for people that can follow the rules and avoid getting into accidents. My understanding was that if you were in an accident, you lost your driver’s license for life.
Where they had limits, strictly enforced. I received one German ticket - photo, for something like 40 in a 35 zone (rural road). Cameras were all over. The Swiss really liked their cameras, and were very strict.
I can remember driving the autobahn from Stuttgart to Munich, almost bumper to bumper traffic, everyone going 75 - 80 MPH. Any accident dozens would be killed. Driving the autobahn took a little while to get used to.
I have very fond memories of driving the Autobahn while stationed in Germany. And like you, received a ticket for going 5 miles over a city speed limit. At that time, the officer approached your car with a wallet not a ticket book. They made you pay up right on the spot. Ticket was doubled if you didn’t have the cash!
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