Go with the flow
The next time you’re driving through Detroit on your way to somewhere nice, worried that the posted speed limit of 65 mph is too slow to avoid being hit by a stray bullet, just drive faster. Turns out you’re allowed.
Last fall, Michigan lawmakers increased the legal speed limit to 70 mph on major highways all over the state. Unfortunately, the state didn’t have any money for MDOT to change the speed-limit signs. Because of the $1.2 million cost, that upgrade was postponed until this summer.
So for the next few months, you can drive 70 mph on a 65 mph freeway and the police won’t pull you over. Well, sort of.
If you’re driving a truck, you can ignore any 55 mph signs and drive 60 mph, but if you’re driving a car and the speed limit is 55 mph, then you have to stick with 55 mph. Also, the speed minimum on all expressways is now 55 mph. Got it?
The force is strong with this one
Paul Woods has been on a trip to Virginia since 2005. What’s taking him so long? Well, his lawn mower can’t run at maximum speed when it’s carrying him, his tools, a heater and Yoda.
Woods, 44, lived in Point Barrow, Alaska, caring for his mother until her death in 2005. When he found out that she left him a house in Virginia, he loaded up his mower, grabbed his terrier, named Yoda, and set off on a 4,500-mile journey.
But at speeds of no more than 15 mph, Woods has only made it to Utah after more than a year on the road. Woods’ battered mower pulls a shopping cart trailer containing his supplies: a tent to sleep in, a propane heater and some tools.
Woods said he plans to detour around Wyoming because the gas stations are too far apart and his mower’s tank only holds a quarter of a gallon. But gas has been the least of Woods’ problems. Only three of the mower’s five gears still work, and he has already had to replace the engine three times.
Woods doesn’t know when he’ll ever get to Virginia, but when he finally does, he said, he plans to turn his mother’s house into apartments for low-income families and medical students.
Breaking news
A television news crew from Milwaukee got into some hot water over a story on ice last month.
A CBS news team was working on a story about the safety of snowmobiles on ice when the driver of a news van mistook the Big Muskego Lake for a road. After driving 150 yards out onto the ice-covered waters, the “road” gave way.
The driver was alone in the van and managed to escape unharmed, but the vehicle remained submerged in 5 ft of icy water for several days.
The station said that given the subject matter of the news crew’s story, the irony of the situation was not lost on them.
Sheep savor sugar-sweetened salt
Officials in Flintshire County in northern Wales decided to replace their environmentally harmful road salt with a sugar-based synthetic formula. Unfortunately, hungry sheep have now replaced ice as the top local driving hazard.
Local residents say that as soon as the salt trucks drive by, sheep converge on the road and begin licking it all up. The new sweeter-tasting salt is so good that not even approaching cars can get the sheep to move.
Despite the traffic backups, Flintshire wants to keep using the new salt because it’s cost-effective, easy to spread and less corrosive to vehicles and roads. The only downside is that it’s made from sugar, starch and cereal, which any sheep will tell you is only a couple of eggs away from a few dozen cookies.
