O.T. Driving through Ohio with a vanity plate
I'm heading out tomorrow from Swartz Creek MI to compete in a Half Ironman in Raleigh NC and of course the fastest route is right through Columbus, OH. Of course I have a license plate with the block M on it and VCTRS2 spelled out; what are the chances folks are going to give me crap just driving through the state?
I was thinking to myself, "Oh great, I might find myself in some 'Deliverance' situation and then I realized I'll be driving through 'By God' West Virginia next, lol. So just gas up before I hit the state line?
Drive with multiple Michigan flags on your car and don't stop till you hit WV.
huh?
is the most awarded SUV ever, according to the commercials; here's to hoping 'robust' is covered in there somewhere...
Furiosa along for the ride.
Don't exceed the speed limit at all. Yes, the speed limit in Ohio is 65 and it sucks, but don't give them an excuse.
my current plan
Or do a race in Michigan and avoid the drive through Ohio?
I am super creative and full of genius ideas.
All the hip triathletes got themselves an SUV or some kind of truck to pack their gear in, if they aren't flying. I'm not hip but I kinda look like it now. No, I plan on doing Half Ironmans and Ironmans all over the place; it's neat to go to different places and race. It is kind of funny how I need to drive through Ohio - me and my vanity plate - to get to anything in the Eastern and Southern US.
The upped the limit. It's now mostly 70 throughout the state. At least that's the case for 75.
Well hot damn, Ohio joined the 20th century!
Of course they would up the speed limit after I graduate...
Now if they would allow you to travel I-75 through rural Ohio as people travel I-696 through Oakland County here in Michigan...
That would only happen if they decide to join the 21st century.
Ohio would have to decide to join the 20th century first {rimshot}
I raely get the chance to drive 696 but when I do I'm amazed. In my limited experience, the flow of traffic is 75-80 and the fast lane is typically 85. It's amazing
It would take me a month to reacclimate to that if I moved home.
Florida is 65 when you're driving somewhere only ducks live, and 55 everywhere else.
It's pretty painful.
And not long ago I passed a cop sitting on the left shoulder. I was going at least 90. He didn't move. Which tells me he was waiting for someone going 100+.
Also, on topic. Always eat and gas up before entering Ohio. No need to spend a single dime in that state unless it's unavoidable.
Stopping to use the bathroom is ok though. Whatever you leave behind will only improve the smell.
Or do they have them at the rest areas?
You won't get to enjoy the 70mph for very long.
I would recommend this though: Fill up your tank on your way out of Columbus. The gas in Ohio is usually cheaper than what you find in the parts of W. Va you'll drive through. I do the Detroit to Myrtle Beach route a lot and I usually get gas in Columbus, Whytheville, VA and if I'm in a fuel efficient car, a gas station just inside the NC/SC border. NC gas seems high to me.
Avoid US 23 near Columbus. The fastest path from the north is US 23 south to US 36 east to I-71 south. If you're headed to WV, take I-270 around the east side of Columbus to US 33 south. With all the bypasses built in the last decade, US 33 is really smooth sailing to the bridge to Ravenswood, WV, where you can get on I-77.
You want to avoid the US-23 corridor between US 36 and I-270. Too many lights and traffic.
between Columbus and the State line. There was some 65 but plenty of 60 and 55 and 50, mostly due to construction. I didn't see a 70 mph sign the whole way to Columbus.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever read. My father was a cop in Ohio for 25 years and I can assure you cops in Ohio don't "have an excuse" to pull people over and not be as lenient simply because they are M fans.
It's not the Michigan fans aspect, I think the general feeling is because we are from Michigan.
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That is stupid also. Cops in Ohio are more aggressive period when it comes to speeding.
The DOJ has suggested that the cops in Cleveland are a little agressive in most manners.
Any out of stater is easy pickings because they are much less likely to have the time to contest the ticket
I got a ticket the night before The Game in 1997 while driving from DC to Ann Arbor.
The cop pulled me over out of a group of 7 cars all rolling 73mph across I-80 at 11pm after surveying the whole group.
I was 5th in the convoy and had Michigan plates. After giving me my speeding ticket, he said "Go Bucks!" And walked back to his car.
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73 on the turnpike in 1997 would have been nearly 15 over! You probably deserved the ticket.
The whole convoy was driving 8mph over.
You can be an asshat sometimes. I've lived in Northwest Ohio since 1988 and as a teenager in the early 90's I traveled I-80 on almost a daily basis. The speed limit was 65 mph. I-75 and I-475 were 60 mph, even 55 mph in some areas. The turnpike was not.
if misremembering the speed limit by 5 miles an hour is the most asshat thing I can do, I need to up my game, tbh.
its just that this is the one you were called out for.
I don't really mind, but it did come off across defensive, and kind of like something a little girl would say after someone made fun of their mommy.
That is such a lie.
Well, your father was the only sane and rational ohio trooper.
He was a police officer, not a trooper. Troopers are not as lenient as officers when it comes to speeding (because that is the thing they enforce the most), but they are going to be less lenient on people with M plates or Wolverines stuff on their cars. That is ridiculous.
I am sure your dad walked on water and never had personal biases, but if you think all cops are as saintly as him you are wrong. I am not saying you lie, but you are misinformed. Calling a person a liar because they are saying the cops are doing things they shouldn't is exactly what is wrong with the police in our country.
You're talking about a small minority.
Dumbest thing you've ever read? You've only been here a month but I still find that pretty hard to believe.
impossible to believe is that he's only been here a month. Maybe just a month as iPhone, but how long under other MGoUser names before being caved?
I doubt he and many others would step forward and reveal previous identities on the blog, but I still think it would be fun to start a forum topic asking who among us have had or currently have more than one account/username.
iPhone is/was Achilles
This is actually false, as I have stated before. I do not know why some think I am that person, but I really do not care.
"Dumbest thing (you) have ever read?" I guess you aren't old enough to remember when it was "business as usual" to be pulled over shortly after crossing the border in Ohio on game day for one mile an hour over the speed limit with a Michigan plate.
In the last 5 years, I've been pulled over only twice. Both times in Ohio on the same road trip to the east coast. This is despite going slower in Ohio than any other state knowing they target out of state drivers.
It's 70 now most places.
I was pulled over by an Ohio Trooper for 10-15mph over once. He let me go with a verbal warning. But I was driving my older brother, an Ohio resident, home from a DTW flight. So I guess the takeaway is feel free to casually speed, just have a guilt-trippy story to share and an Ohio resident with you.
Being serious here, no one cares. Am a Columbus resident. People are too busy texting while driving to be a jerk just because you hold yourself to a high standard as a Michigan fan.
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I didn't think this would stress me out but it actually does! I figure most people would be cool about it, guess I'll find out.