Hello from Montana

[Guest JPH]

Hi

I am originally from southern California but moved my family the north western area of Montana 13 years ago – the area I lived in went so south with the gangs and such I call us the refuges from LA

My favorite hobby is my 5 and almost 6 grandchildren – I guess next would come my gun collection, shooting, archery as well as golf – golf teaches me humility and nothing else

I served in Viet Nam where I seemed to become a target for Charlie Cong - I never knew what the problem was, I only wanted to be friends – un-scaved I did 30 years in the construction business and am now designing homes for a living

I hope to learn and train more on and from these web sites and have spent a little time with James Yeager’s forum – it always amazes me the depth of information on these sites from the young and old alike -

I have received training from Scott Reiz (spelling?) group in LA (ITTS firearms school) this year with sniper and carbine – also did a two day deal with Yeager’s team here in Montana for “fighting pistol†taught by Arron Little. Both schools were top notch and taught me how much I don’t know – my son, the little s**t rooky Montana hwy patrolman (Iraq Vet, combat infantryman), calls ME old school – well now, I am not going to allow that to go un-checked

hello all

John Haynes

[Marswolf]

Hi John, welcome to the party.

I spent more time trying to dodge NVA than VC when I was in Southeast Asia.

[Guest GlocKingTN]

Welcome to TGO! Hope you enjoy!

[saintsfanbrian]

Welcome. Where in Montana should I move. I hate the weather down here.

[Guest JPH]

Welcome. Where in Montana should I move. I hate the weather down here.

Flathead Valley - Eureka - are great areas

great fishing - caught a measured 24" rainbow trout and impressed no one - they get much larger

great hunting here - goat, elk, ram, black bear and cougar

weather not bad during the winters as you may think so get your ass up here

[Guest JPH]

Hi John, welcome to the party.

I spent more time trying to dodge NVA than VC when I was in Southeast Asia.

yea I guess that was the way of it in 69 - we were at the top of the Mecon Delta west and south of Long Bien

almost 40 years ago - can you believe that -

[towerclimber37]

hey! welcome to the forum. another old soldier

you're older than me by the way..I'm an Iraq vet also..

[Guest Phantom6]

Welcome to the group. My youngest is looking at a career in LE once he graduates college next year.

[TGO David]

Welcome. What brings a Montana resident to our neck of the woods?

[Guest Medic908]

Welcome. Sounds like all is well in "Big Sky Country".

[fury2neon]

Welcome!

[Guest Len]

Welcome!

Ah, Montana, the land of the no-speed limit highway! (Do they still have that? When I lived in South Dakota we all were envious of you guys!)

Had a job opportunity in Billings once, but never followed up. I've regretted that decision.

[Marswolf]

yea I guess that was the way of it in 69 - we were at the top of the Mecon Delta west and south of Long Bien

almost 40 years ago - can you believe that -

Yep, hard to imagine. I was primarily in the Highlands near the Cambodian border, west of Ban Me Thuot. But I got into Saigon on occasion. I worked with some really good people there. Learned a lot.

[Guest JPH]

Welcome!

Ah, Montana, the land of the no-speed limit highway! (Do they still have that? When I lived in South Dakota we all were envious of you guys!)

Had a job opportunity in Billings once, but never followed up. I've regretted that decision.

no it's 75 now

The law allowed you to travel as fast as safety permitted, what was reasonable or something like that

We had a “race car†driver traveling at about 200 MPH or so and was pulled over – he claimed that speed was reasonable for him and actually below his average speed - he was capable of traveling at much faster speeds on a nice sunny summer day

The judge said his tires were not safe to travel at those speeds and that was the beginning of the end of reasonable speeds – by the way the death toll of those years did not go up on average as I understood

When I first moved here the speeding ticket would cost $20.00 - Those days are gone

[shaftbass]

no it's 75 now

The law allowed you to travel as fast as safety permitted, what was reasonable or something like that

We had a “race car†driver traveling at about 200 MPH or so and was pulled over – he claimed that speed was reasonable for him and actually below his average speed - he was capable of traveling at much faster speeds on a nice sunny summer day

The judge said his tires were not safe to travel at those speeds and that was the beginning of the end of reasonable speeds – by the way the death toll of those years did not go up on average as I understood

When I first moved here the speeding ticket would cost $20.00 - Those days are gone

I think that story has been embellished quite a bit.

No speed limit

On March 10, 1996 [38], a Montana Patrolman issued a speed ticket to a driver traveling at 85 mph (140 km/h) on a stretch of State Highway 200. The 50 year-old male driver (Rudy Stanko) was operating a 1996 Camaro with less than 10,000 miles (16,000 km) on the odometer. Although the officer gave no opinion as to what would have been a reasonable speed, the driver was convicted. The driver appealed all the way to the Montana Supreme Court. The Court reversed the conviction in case No. 97-486 on December 23, 1998; it held that a law requiring drivers to drive at a non-numerical "reasonable and proper" speed "is so vague that it violates the Due Process Clause ... of the Montana Constitution".

[edit] 75 mph speed limit

Due to this reversal, Montana scrambled to vote in a numerical limit as it technically had no speed limit whatsoever in the meantime. In June 1999, a new Montana speed limit law went into effect. The law's practical effect was to require posted limits on all roads and disallow any speed limit higher than 75 mph (120 km/h).

Montana law still contains a section that says "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." However, this is a standard clause that appears in other state traffic codes and has the practical effect of requiring a speed lower than the posted limit where a lower speed is necessary to maintain a reasonable and prudent road manner.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=MT&vol=97&invol=486

[Guest JPH]

good to see you guys like your facts semi straight - the case above is not the case I am referring to

the driver I am referring to had his case upheld because of the tires not capable of handling the high speeds – that is hardly an 85 mph issue or at least I hope not

I will check again with my son who is a hwy patrolman here in Montana

Again I like the idea of keeping these threads clean – thank you sir

[MexicanDragon]

Welcome, JPH.

So... my car-guyness kicked in, and I went to look up some ratings for tires, as I wasn't sure of any street tires rated to 200+, though I know they exist due to the current crop of supercars which will hit 190+.

I knew of high performance ratings such as H, V, Z, W, and Y (130, 149+ (Z rated tires are listed as 149+, but I'd guess it varies on "how far above 149" they'd really go), W goes to 168, and 186 for Y rated).

There does seem to be a class above Y, which is (Y). (No, it's not cleavage, it's a "Y" in parentheses "()". <g>) (Y) denotes "above 186" (the numbers make more sense converted to km, where 186 comes out to 300km/h).

So... the aformentioned driver could have gotten out of the ticket, "technically", if he would have had Z rated (149+... as 200 is definately above 149, though it may not have been "technically" safe), or if he'd have dropped the coin for some (Y) rated tires.

If it was a bright sunny day... it's possible that he could have been running D.O.T. approved R-Compounds (usually racing tires), (such has a Hoosier road racing tire), and been fine with that as well.

I'd be interested to know which car/tire combo he had... as very few cars can actually hit 200. Even many modified cars have trouble reaching that point. Also, there are plenty "supercars" which technically CAN reach that mark, but conditions would have to be JUST right. (Long, straight stretch of relatively stable asphalt, flat or possibly small downward grade, tailwind would be nice, etc.)

**BRENT*

[Guest JPH]

wow that's a bit over my head

talked to my son today and he is transferring out her from the east side later this month – he said the guys out here would have info

I will follow up asap

Thanks

[Urse]

Welcome!

[Guest Old Chief]

Greetings from Tipton County Tennessee