Over the long holiday weekend I had the opportunity to go on a nice LONG drive covering 200+ miles of I-81 in Virginia in each direction. I-81 recently had its speed limit raised for most of its length to 70mph.
Speaking about the new speed limit, Governor McDonnell originally said "The increase in the speed limit from 65 to 70 mph in rural and less populated areas of the state will help Virginians arrive at their destinations quicker and safer and will speed the delivery of goods and services throughout the commonwealth. This is just one step forward in our efforts to significantly improve Virginia's transportation system." News release: 70 mph speed limits announced
Well, Governor McDonnell, here's what I can tell you after driving 400 miles with the "quicker and safer" speed limit: It's now even more difficult for trucks to pass each other on the lovely two-lane mountain interstate, especially because in the commonwealth "reckless driving" remains the utterly ridiculous 80 mph, even on an interstate where the speed limit is now 70. That's right - you can either get Virginia's lowest level of speeding ticket for 1-9 mph over and 3 points, or *BOOM*, misdemeanor reckless driving. (PMIA jailtime, mandatory court appearance, etc.) And you still have trucks trying to pass each other with one or two mile-per-hour differentials while traffic behind them queues up for a quarter mile. Especially when trucks conveniently ignore the "commercial vehicles not allowed in left lane when operated below 70 mph" signage.
You also have the reappearance of the parade f-er, which I first wrote about here: Parade F-ers Only now, you have an individual in right lane going 69 mph, and an individual in left lane SLOWLY passing the individual in the right lane at 71 mph. Or the individual that continues obliviously cruising in the left lane at 71 mph, with no one to his right for miles.. because making me have to pass you on the right makes complete sense, right? It's all the more frustrating when you then attempt to pass on the right and they SPEED UP. As if to say "How dare you pass me on the right!" (which I wouldn't have to do if you weren't in the left passing lane forevER in the first place, dumbass!) You can't win here in the commonwealth. Flash your brights, people take it personally. Pass on the right so as to avoid to the oblivtard in the left lane - people still take it personally.
Also, a side note to VDOT, which of course they will never see or read since they've banned me: How is it that I-81S/I-77N are the same interstate, and vice versa? Please explain how it's not confusing to be going north and south at the same time? Your signage continues to astound me. I know and understand that interstates share designations for certain stretches, but I'd be curious if this is the only interstate that shares completely opposite cardinal directions for the shared stretch.
While of course spending the holidays with family make dealing with the travel hassle worth it, it's still a PIA and it's something that could so easily be avoided, if people would just be considerate. Oh, and one more thing: HANG UP THE PHONE AND DRIVE!
