[thechat] Speed limits in USA

[javier velasco]

Hi All

Thanks to Madhu for dragging me back to reading this list!

Can't resist some comments, I love cars:

I had no idea that there was a Lotus version of the Omega... I love the 
design of that car, in Chile we got it as an Opel, and some years ago, 
when my dad was looking to buy a nice Opel for himself, I suggested him 
to get an Omega instead of the Vectra, and he did, it's a great car. Has 
many neat features, like a cooler in the glovebox.

http://www.autohaus-seidler.de/bilder/gw-omega-meier.jpg

My dad's car is now going on sale, (he passed away some months ago). If 
any of you is interested in shipping it from Santiago...

In that same page you can see what was my first car, an Opel Corsa.
http://www.autohaus-seidler.de/bilder/gw-corsa-brestel.JPG
Which was also my wife's first car and then became our first married 
car... not remarkably fast but one tough reliable thing, had no problems 
driving at 5000m above sea level.

Now, back to the main subject, what I've learned during my year in the 
states, is that you can usually get away with driving 10-15 mph above 
the speed limit, especially when with the flow of traffic. The fastest 
flow I've seen was in Miami 85-90, which was a bit tense cause I was all 
the time checking what exit to take in an unfamiliar area full of ramps.

Here in New England, I've done the trip from Boston to Bangor, at a 
cruise speed of 85mph, and my '94 Civic coupe  did 40mpg! Two days ago, 
I got home back from the Canadian border at the end of I-95 in 1.5 hrs, 
at a steady speed of 80mph, most of the cars were going 75: lesson north 
part of I-95 is slower than south, lol.

My favorite traffic sign? Moose ahead, of course! On our first road trip 
to Canada there was actually a moose crossing the road a few feet ahead 
of the sign.

Curious note: in Chile there's always an 'end zone' sign after each 
special signal, interesting since our signs are very crappy overall. 
Funny thing is that on many times you can see an 'end zone' sign without 
the previous restriction sign.

Curve speed restriction signals: I've thanked them a couple of times.

cheers
javier