I would start with the local office for your state's transportation department. Every state's different, but the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has local offices called "residencies," each of which is run by the Resident Engineer. In my experience Resident Engineers like to talk about transportation issues. If you find the right person, he or she will probably tell you more than you need to know.

If they wanted to make a fortune of money, they would simply ticket every single vehicle that was doing 66 mph or above.

The "speed creep" is solely determined by the enforcement level, or lack thereof.

There are DB's here that are regularly doing 80 in a 55 limit. That's a misdemeanor and you don't get the opportunity to drive your vehicle home that night. How could that be possible, you ask?

Lack of enforcement.

I was always curious about this situation.

You can only do what the vehicle will do............and the BMW might have to drop 50 mph of speed to wait for you.

Who's got the "right" in that situation...........you or the BMW..........in the eyes of the law?

I wonder if US drivers would put up with the stringent inspections and very high cost of licensing and training required of drivers in many European nations.

Stupid deer. That video makes me want to take up deer hunting. Besides, deer are tasty

Actually I was in the car. Time was about 1140 pm, the road is dead straight with very little elevation change and sight lines that go for miles. I was the only one on the road except for a car way behind me. I didn't think it was a cop, but wasn't sure, so I increased my speed gradually, hoping that if it was a cop I'd get lit up when I was still in warning territory. This seems to have worked, even though he waited until I turned onto the main highway to make the stop. Posted limit is 45. The deputy stated I was going 71. He must not have felt like writing.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

If they did that a lot of people would be doing what I'm looking at doing. There would be public outrage, the limit would go up, and revenue would go down. It's a balancing act to squeeze out as much revenue as possible without squeezing too hard.

80 in a 55 is nothing. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylDA3UV2eXc&feature=player_embedded

Last I heard, the suspect is in custody and his bike has been impounded. While I'm not much of a believer in speed limits, lane splitting and passing with that much velocity difference don't strike me as a good idea.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Thank you. That was some fascinating reading.

I've sent an email to NDOT explaining that I want to suggest a speed increase on SR209 and asking who I should talk to. We'll see what happens.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.