OT: Ohio (Was: did your state make the list?)

[Robert W. Rood]

Wayne makes a good point regarding normalizing
the speeding ticket statistics with population
density and any "scientist" worth his/her salt
would agree. Still, as a former resident of
Michigan - Ohio's northern neighbor - I can tell
you the difference in "average" speeds between
Michigan and Ohio on I-75 - the major Interstate
running from the Canadian border down to the tip
of Florida - leads me to believe it's more along
the lines of an enforcement issue. Michigan is
one of the top - if not THE top - in the
percentage of drivers that violate the speed
limit and its population is about the same as
Ohio: About 10 million compared to 11 million.
And while Michigan's land area is indeed bigger
than Ohio's by some 40%, it's important to note
than over 60% of Michigan's population is
concentrated in the SE corner - relative "close"
to the Ohio border. And as someone who has driven
the stretch of I-75 through Ohio several million
(give or take) times, the speeds increase rather
substantially when you cross into Michigan, and
they decrease when you head into Ohio. For
whatever reason, Michigan is far more lenient on
speeders, irregardless it seems, whether you
carry Michigan license plates or not. Why I'm not
sure.

Rob