Dear good people of VA....I have a request

[dolo amber]

I live in NC, and my family lives in KY. I do a lot of driving through your lovely state to visit them. May I first say what a breathtaking state you have. :)

I do have quite an issue, however, with some signs on your freeways:

SPEED LIMIT ENFORCED BY AIRCRAFT

Now, not that I make a habit of it or anything(O8)), but in moving with the flow of traffic, I've been known to lead-foot it once or twice. NOT ONCE EVER has a big metal claw come down from above and plucked me off the road, taken me aboard the craft, written me a ticket, and returned me to Earth to continue my journey. I'm starting to think perhaps there are no such enforcing aircraft, which would only mean that the sign is in error. Perhaps they would be better served to change the signs to:

SPEED LIMIT MONITORED BY AIRCRAFT

That way, no one is disappointed when the aforementioned scenario doesn't occur (which you have to admit, would be pretty cool! :D).

Maybe if enough of you mentioned this in a letter to your representatives, the message might get through. ;)

Thank you for your time. :hi:

Oh, and one more thing...

If you could also maybe have them look into the evil genius who lives on the NC/VA border...y'know, the one who turns on his weather controlling machine to FOGGGGG!!!! the instant I cross the state line. Cos that's just rude.

:D

[Gin]

1. I live in VA..have not been ticketed by use of aircraft....but...my

daughter in Tampa was...so... the plane spots you...radios the cops on the ground and you get the ticket.

The signs may be threats...but they may also be legit.

[dolo amber]

2. Well exactly

That's MONITORING, not ENFORCING. ;)

It's just annoying, is all I'm sayin'. :)

[Cush]

Southern/South Eastern Virginia is swampland

hence the fog

[Jivenwail]

3. Unfortunately aircraft are not the only thing they use

here is VA. There are so many ND vehicles, one never knows when, where they will get you for speeding. It's despicable. Beyond the regular state troopers and local PD marked vehicles, you can be stopped by literally any type, make, model, color of unmarked vehicle. They lurk absolutely everywhere. The problem on our highways is the speed limit is 55 (you have to go way outside city limits to see anything above that) and absolutely no one goes 55 here. It's impossible to go 55, you will get run over. When my husband and I moved here from CA, we were shocked, as we were so used to going 70 mph! They state makes most of its' revenue off of speeding tickets, at least that's my view of it. And although I've never seen the actual aircraft you speak of, I have seen reports on the local news about them and how they operate...so they DO exist and they DO enforce speed limits. They report speeders to the authorities, who will then issue the tickets. Similar to the cameras that have been installed at intersections here in VA Beach - run a red light, get a ticket.

I'm sorry to say, too, that notifying our reps won't work. The repukes are in control here, and virtually anything that makes sense will never see the light of day here. As for the fog, sorry, can't help you there! All I can is apologize for that!

Remember to drive safely in VA - your wallet could depend upon it!

[belladonna]

8. The ONLY times I've been pulled over

The only time I've ever been pulled over is by an unmarked vehicle. One was an SUV, another a damn Mustang. Now I know what my taxes are paying for, cause it sure as hell isn't the roads. x(

[smiley_glad_hands]

4. Gas prices are too high for them

to put up aircraft.

[demnan]

5. Unfortunately (or fortunately?)

the traffic is so bad here in Northern Virginia that it is impossible to speed, much less reach the speed limit, especially but not exclusively during rush hour.

[Penndems]

6. Just a reminder: If you ever think about using a "fuzzbuster"

in Virginia - DON'T . . . they're illegal.

Don't want you to get pulled over for that. :)

And thank you for the nice compliment regarding our beauty, neighbor. When my husband and I lived in Pennsylvania after he was transferred there, quite a few folks made a point of telling me how beautiful my state is. And it always made me proud to hear that.

BTW, Mr. Penndems is a Tar Heel. Just one more thing to love about North Carolina. ;)

[spooky3]

12. Both states are gorgeous, and NC is too. I love the tall trees.

[cmayer]

7. They don't fly the airplanes anymore.

This was the brainchild of our former Gov. "Gridlock" Gilmore. People were (illegally) using radar detectors and he wanted to put the fear of God into them. They used the planes for about 6 months, but the prohibitive cost in fuel and manpower quickly closed it down.

Of course Gilmore moved on to become Executive Director of a transportation consulting consortium after being fired as Chairman of the RNC. He did successfully bring Virginia style budget solutions to the Federal level before he left though.

Sorry Northern Virginia. I grew up there (now inside the Beltway.) I had to get out of the traffic.

[sofa king]

9. You'd love the sign we had on the wall at Virginia Tech

Proudly stolen from the approaches to Mountain Lake (you know, where they filmed that part of Dirty Dancing that wasn't filmed in North Carolina):

EXPERIMENTAL FOG AREA AHEAD
NEXT 10 MILES

We never found out what the experimental fog area was about, but the sign sure made sense during smoky bashes.

Maybe we've been testing it on Carolingians....

[VTMechEngr]

11. Another great Tech sign:

Instead of the falling rocks sign, it shows the rocks and a geologist falling from a cliff. The caption is "watch for falling geologists, Next 18 miles to Blacksburg"

[MrSandman]

10. I thought the Speed limit was 65...

Went to Bridgewater Sunday, and I-81 was a menace at 75...I could not stay out of people's ways. I was a bottle neck.