As you may know, Montana removed all daytime speed limits on December 8, 1995. Here is the first speed survey done by MT DOT for the period Jan - March, 1996:
| Road type | Miles | Number of vehicles
observed | %>55 | %>60 | %>65 | %>70 | %>75 | %>80 | %>85 |
| Urban Interstate | 11 | 13,770 | 82.08 | 55.57 | 24.06 | 12.22 | 5.03 | --- | --- |
| Rural Interstate | 1,180 | 20,867 | --- | --- | 47.82 | 22.26 | 7.90 | 2.83 | 0.61 |
| Rural other | 12,719 | 29,774 | 59.18 | 34.09 | 15.59 | 5.84 | 2.15 | --- | --- |
And here is one done for the period April - June, 1996:
| Road type | Miles | Number of vehicles
observed | %>55 | %>60 | %>65 | %>70 | %>75 | %>80 | %>85 |
| Urban Interstate | 11 | 12,392 | 83 | 51 | 31 | 16 | 9 | --- | --- |
| Rural Interstate | 1,180 | 31,579 | --- | --- | 61 | 38 | 19 | 8 | 2 |
| Rural other | 12,719 | 41,769 | 69 | 44 | 23 | 9 | 3 | --- | --- |
So, who can't be trusted -- the motorists who aren't abusing that freedom, or the safety organizations that said everyone would be zooming around at 100 mph?
Self-preservation. What a novel concept.
Do the safety groups, whose self-anointed position is to protect us from ourselves, know that when Montana had a speed limit, it was treated with all the seriousness of a parking ticket? From 1974 to December 8th, 1995, Montana law said anyone who went over the 55/65 daytime speed limit was guilty of not conserving a natural resource (not speeding) and would be fined all of $5. Furthermore, the legislature made it so that no $5 ticket could be kept on your license for the purpose of suspending it. As if that wasn't enough, they also said that insurance companies could not raise your rates if you got one (or 100) of the $5 tickets. In effect, Montana never did have a speed limit even when they did.
When the safety groups say that the fatalities are higher in rural states (which they are), they place little or no importance on the lack of passing drivers (to get/give help), not to mention ambulances that have to drive 15 minutes or more to get to the scene. They can't change that, so they blame speed.