South Dakota Fatality Marker

I recently had the opportunity to take a road trip to South Dakota. It was different from Wisconsin, and I am glad I went. One of the things that has stuck with me was the roadside fatality markers. These are locations where people died. The state has been marking them since 1979. More info from the state can be found here: Why Die Sign Info

It is kind of eerie. Someone died here while driving. A life (or sometimes multiple lives) ended here. This could happen to you. It is an interesting idea; I like it. It helped me keep perspective. It could all end in an instant.

Some other observations from a transportation perspective were the higher speed limits and the use of double trailers on semi trucks. The interstate speed limit in South Dakota was 75, in Wisconsin it is 65. The state highways were generally 65 in South Dakota; here they are 55. When I drove across the border from South Dakota into Minnesota all I could think about was how slow 55 felt. The semi trucks almost all had 2 trailers, with the second one many times being smaller than the first. I think this is a good use of resources. They have a lot of product to move (hay bales EVERYWHERE) and a small labor force. The roads are also not very crowded.

I like traveling because it never fails to give me something new to think about.