Do Alabamians Drive Too Fast?

"I'm in a hurry to get things done, oh I rush and rush till life's no fun..."  Most of us recognize that line from a song by the group Alabama.  Maybe Randy Owen and crew knew a little something about how fast we seem to drive in this state.  Speaking of which......

I was doing a comfortable 81 mph on I-65 north yesterday as we were headed home from a short beach trip during spring break week.  That Kia is smooth when you get over 80...  Anyway, I came up on this idiot actually doing the freekin' speed limit in the middle lane and found myself very irritated at having to manuever around him.  I considered giving him the universal sign of displeasure, but since the kids were in the van, I decided against it.  (Just kidding, I don't use the bird. After all, the driver could have been a policyholder!)

And then, on the front page of today's Birmingham News, a report saying Alabama has more deaths because of speeding than any other state, and that our state ranks fifth in the nation for fastest drivers.  Of course, thank God for Mississippi, which ranked number one for fastest interstate drivers.  Probably Alabama drivers going through the state in a hurry to get to those casinos....

The article goes on to say Reader's Digest ranked Alabama in three Top 10 categories having the deadliest highways nationwide.  We ranked number 1 for highway fatalities caused by speeding, No 9 for road deaths in which alcohol was involved, and No 9 among the 50 states for having the deadliest roads overall.  I'd try to blame some of this on the Nascar mentality, but Nascar is huge in many other states, so I can't use that as an excuse.  Maybe if we just made those 200,000 fans that go to Talladega twice a year spend the night at the track and drive home sober on Monday, those numbers would decrease.  Hey, it's just an idea.  I'm brainstorming here. 

I'm guessing these stats influence our overall insurance rates as well, so maybe we're all paying the price for our desire to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible.  Well, I'd like to type more but I've got things to do, places to go, and people to see.  If you see a black 1997 Chev pickup doing 90 mph on I-459 in the outside lane, just remember I am keeping up with the normal flow of traffic...