To: Charles A. King who wrote (9253 ) 4/26/1998 6:41:00 AM From: Charles A. King Respond to of 13091
US Route 301 connects towns along the Eastern Seaboard. It is a fine, wide 4 lane highway as it travels through sparsely populated portions of North Florida, and one can be lulled into thinking Interstate while motoring though the forest. For many years, towns along this stretch of road found US 301 to be a valuable cash cow. You see, the speed limit was set by the state at 55 mph while most traffic was at 60 to 70. The town themselves set their limits as low as 30 in their inner parts. One crossroads hamlet situated way off in the piney woods actually annexed a 20 foot wide strip all the way out across US 301 and stationed a car there specifically to garner revenue. That example plus 2 others finally attracted the attention of the AAA and gave those 3 speed traps national publicity. Now, the state of Florida finds the tourist industry as perhaps its most important resource. Central and South Florida do a tremendous amount of business every year, just from the "snow birds". So it stands to reason that the highway department got the message quickly and loudly, and 55 mph 4 lane highways all around the area suddenly became 65. National publicity by a respected national organization did the trick for the motorists. The behavior of South Carolina's DHEC should be somewhat embarrassing to the state by this time. I was wondering what could be done to bring this to national attention if possible. The only national organization that I could think of that is concerned about it right now is the Sierra Club, but that is a group of tree hugging volunteers more concerned with protecting the public from pollution rather than with a bureaucracy that prevents business from operating. Maybe the US Chamber of Commerce or business journals would be interested in looking into it. To me, DHEC behaves like a backwoods Boss Hawg, run by good ol' boys asayin', "You inna heepa trouble, boy!" Charles