@dagosa I’m not sure why you’ve been so contrary lately. There’s nothing in what you’re arguing against that is factually incorrect. Yes, I did know that… Having been to Maine. You presumably know… Having been a driver, that Montana is not going to make the speed limit on all roads in the entire state 85mph. You also presumably know that Montana is a hell of a lot bigger than Maine. If you went 3 hours in a straight line at 85mph from west to east in Maine… Well you wouldn’t, because at its widest you could only go for about 2 hours and 15 minutes until you drove into the ocean. Montana is more than 3 times as wide as Maine, and the majority of that is flat, featureless expanses. Maine literally cannot have the length of straight boring highway that Montana can have, because Maine is tiny by comparison.
As for the snow, perhaps Maine is behind the times, but here in my state, the speed limit is, by law, a limit for good conditions. Driving faster than conditions warrant is a ticketable offense, which means that even if the speed limit is 85, if you’re in a blizzard and go 85, you’re breaking the law. Montana has the same concept in their law, 61-8-303(3), stating “Subject to the maximum speed limits set forth in subsection (1), a person shall operate a vehicle in a careful and prudent manner and at a reduced rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions existing at the point of operation, taking into account the amount and character of traffic, visibility, weather, and roadway conditions.”
So, the idea that Montana is looking to make it legal to blast down the highway in an ice storm is utterly false, as are comparisons between Montana and comparatively miniature states.