Thousandair,

I can really appreciate what you're saying. In Chicago the highway speed limit is 55. If you are in the far right lane and doing 65 cars will be passing you like you're standing still and trucks will be right on top of your trunk.

My condo complex where I live has a speed limit of 15 mph but I see people going through here at 35 mph. The street next to this complex has a speed limit of 35 and cars are cruising by at 50 as a general rule.

As you said speeding is the number one cause of accidents. My only question when I see these people flying along with their cell phones pasted to their ear, is what in the world is all the rush about? Is life a race to the finish now?

I used to like to drive a lot. In 1971 I drove a VW Beetle loaded with all my earthly belongings from Colorado across I-80 in a snowstorm. Before an injury I would drive 3 hours each way just to ski in Vermont...or sometimes simply to enjoy a sunset over a mountain lake in the summer. (also gas was cheaper) When I decided to move to FL from NH I hopped in my Honda Accord and drove down I-95..very easy trip, don't need a map. LOL   But I've developed a terrible fear of driving on the Interstate. It's kept me from jobs that require a lot of travel. The trucks in FL carry so much construction stuff and you can see it flying all over the place. They don't seem to have a regard for life or limb and I start to shriek when the sand pebbles start to hit my windshield at 70mph. I'm not 100% positive but I think Lee County (where I live) has the highest number of traffic deaths per capita in the country because nobody bothers to obey the speed limit and they cut in and out of the lanes. I just accepted a position (sort of, maybe) that will require lots of driving on the highway at night, but I need to pay the bills. Wish I could afford a tank, although like a Hummer, they probably don't get very good mileage and probably won't fit in a car wash bay.

Thanks for your entry. Venting is good. Take it from the Queen of Vent.

about 4 years ago i was on the interstate.raining so heavy that even the wind shield wipers going you still couldn't see anything.well i was going as well as i could being that the downpour was so bad it was blinding.next thing i knew this jerk ran like a missle right into the back of my car.whiplash like no tomorrow.so the judge asks him later why he couldn't avoid doing this and the kid said that the speed limit was 65 miles per hour.so even though it was blinding rain and i was going probably 50 or 55 due to the impaired situation this idiot said he couldn't stop because he was going the speed limit.the judge promptly sent him to driving school and then i sued the dummy.

good to vent. i could tell you stories about atlanta drivers that would curl your hair.

I agree, 287 can get pretty bad. Even worse than the speed is the weaving in and out of traffic. Here is a good example of what I'm talking about: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3819642436560049967

By the way, in my opinion the worst drivers are on the beltway around Washington, D.C. I lived in D.C. a while back, and I've never seen people go to such extremes in driving. Maybe it's because the road is built like a race track -- very wide and curvy.

They must be rushing on 287 to get the heck out of White Plains, and get back home to Rockland and Orange counties. I avoid 287 to Tappan Zee like the plague during rush hour, especially Friday nights, I'm glad I don't have to work in White Plains any longer. It's the same on the Sprain Pkwy going south from 287, I avoid it.   We shouldn't complain too much about the traffic volume here though, I was in San Diego last year, and the interstates are like parking lots. all day long, there is no rush hour any longer, you can't even enjoy your vacation. I stopped taking trips out there, it's not worth it , too much time wasted on the roads.