State Trooper!
A member of the Montana Highway Patrol sits at an on-ramp in Billings. This is one of two troopers I saw in Billings, which is odd, because I never see state troopers in Montana. I wasn't entirely sure they existed. And really, if you think about it, why would they? Montana doesn't really care abut speed limits.
Speed limits on highways were originally a state-controlled thing, but in 1973 in response to the price hikes connected to the oil crisis, the federal government instituted a 55 mile-per-hour (90 kph) speed limit effective nationwide. I remember the 55-mph limit, but I wasn't driving then, so I have a hard time imagining it. I guess I could see it for the Eastern states where I lived and everything was more compact, but 55 is incredibly slow, and I don't see driving it someplace like Montana. A lot of other people felt the same way, and in 1987, Congress upped the limit to 65. (I remember my mom celebrating this with a special trip up I-65 to see the new signs.) In 1995, Congress repealed the federal speed limit completely, allowing states to go back to doing whatever they wanted.
And what did Montana want to do? For four years, they decided to have no numerical speed limit at all. Their speed limit was whatever was "safe for conditions," which is the same as saying, "It depends on how drunk you are." So for a while, you could reasonably tear ass across Montana as fast as you wanted. They backed off that in 1999 and set the state's maximum allowed speed at 75. It's since jumped five mph and is currently 80.
State Trooper!
A member of the Montana Highway Patrol sits at an on-ramp in Billings. This is one of two troopers I saw in Billings, which is odd, because I never see state troopers in Montana. I wasn't entirely sure they existed. And really, if you think about it, why would they? Montana doesn't really care abut speed limits.
Speed limits on highways were originally a state-controlled thing, but in 1973 in response to the price hikes connected to the oil crisis, the federal government instituted a 55 mile-per-hour (90 kph) speed limit effective nationwide. I remember the 55-mph limit, but I wasn't driving then, so I have a hard time imagining it. I guess I could see it for the Eastern states where I lived and everything was more compact, but 55 is incredibly slow, and I don't see driving it someplace like Montana. A lot of other people felt the same way, and in 1987, Congress upped the limit to 65. (I remember my mom celebrating this with a special trip up I-65 to see the new signs.) In 1995, Congress repealed the federal speed limit completely, allowing states to go back to doing whatever they wanted.
And what did Montana want to do? For four years, they decided to have no numerical speed limit at all. Their speed limit was whatever was "safe for conditions," which is the same as saying, "It depends on how drunk you are." So for a while, you could reasonably tear ass across Montana as fast as you wanted. They backed off that in 1999 and set the state's maximum allowed speed at 75. It's since jumped five mph and is currently 80.