There were, until very recently, some roads in Montana that didn't have any speed limit during the day. They provided at least a legal justification that there was a legitimate on-road use case for going more than 85MPH.
I believe Montana gave that up in the last few years, so there wouldn't be much of a case against putting an 85MPH governor in cars, except I guess against the possibility that some state might at some point raise their limit.
Some states (e.g. Texas) have been raising their speed limits, seemingly in keeping with the safety enhancements in cars, which is an interesting example of "risk compensation".
Ah, the glory days. The speed limits returned quite some time ago (>12 years) in Montana after the stupid out of staters ruined it by killing themselves too frequently on their 'Montana autobahn experiences'.
Back when the national speed limit was forced to 55mph because of the energy crisis, Montana legislators thumbed their nose at it by making it a cash fine of $5 IIRC that did not go on your record.
> there wouldn't be much of a case against putting an 85MPH governor in cars
There are plenty of reasons not to do it. A lot of people take cars to the track, and not just those with high performance vehicles. I've seen people drag racing stock Camrys at a legit quarter mile track just because they wanted to see what it could do (not much).
I believe Montana gave that up in the last few years, so there wouldn't be much of a case against putting an 85MPH governor in cars, except I guess against the possibility that some state might at some point raise their limit.
Some states (e.g. Texas) have been raising their speed limits, seemingly in keeping with the safety enhancements in cars, which is an interesting example of "risk compensation".