It does indeed seem outrageous that a patent has been sough and obtained for merely the design. I would have thought that when the patent was issued for algorithms actually turning the page, the design would have been included.
I do not think the problem you describe is solely due to lax supervision and management specific to the Patent Office. There are similar problems in other Government Agencies. The main cause, in my view, is the popular notion - highly promoted by our federal legislators - that every spending has to be cut, ignoring the fact that some federal budgets have already been cut below the level necessary to handle efficiently the needs of a growing economy the size of ours. When a patent is issued based on anything other than full, expert and impartial evaluation, it is not just an unjustified restraint but demeans the entire Patent system, by giving lobbyists and people who benefit from them an improper incentive to file for unpatentable items, unnecessarily overloading Patent Office employees, relaxing standards and complicating patent lawyers' and accountants' work for securing patents for items that are patentable.

I fully agree that higher speeds may mean higher fatalities. Driving at 25 mph on a 35 mph limit road may well be safer than driving at 45 mpg on that same road, but driving at 25 mph on a 70 or 75 mph road is an invitation to disaster unless you happen to be preceded by an advance and a rear vehicle with flashing lights signaling danger. Increases in speed on a state's roads always have a price, not least the added cost of special measures taken to make driving at 85 MPH safer. A sequence of vehicles which all drive at the same speed is like a pod in a tube. As long as none of the units in the pod vary their speed and distance from each other significantly, they will be safe. Adequate distance apart is most important in order to allow safe exit and entry to the pod, the higher the speed the greater the distance. Per se, 85 MPH is not inherently more dangerous than driving at 75 MPH. Other civilised countries such as Germany, France and Italy allow speeds higher than 85 MPH (140 KPH) but rigorously enforce the overall speed law even on Autobahnen, autoroutes and autostrade which have no speed limit at all. None of these European unlimited speed tollways allow unlimited speed throughout their length. There are frequent stretches (e.g. transitions between interlaced tollways, entry and exit ramps for petrol stations and restaurants, tunnels and occasional tight curves) where the speed is reduced and highway patrolmen watch for offenders. A motorcyclist driving his souped up Ducati at 250 KPH on an unlimited speed stretch where the average speed of other users is 160 KPH will be stopped and fined on the spot I would not expect the Texas 85 MPH stretch to be any different. The question is not whether we should not build ultrahigh speed tollways for the gratification of speed demons but whether we must balance added safety related construction cost against the benefits of accelerated communications of goods and services. Once that goal is achieved, any eventual added cost in loss of life or limb must be minimised by appropriate construction improvements, vehicle qualifications and vigilant speed control enforcement. When those three conditions are satisfied, it matters little whether the speed limit is 85 MPH or the speed of sound (e.g. bullet trains and tubular travel). Fuel economy is an entirely separate issue which exceeds by far the limits of tollway traffic.

From my 50 0r more year experience as a driver of cars, big and small, and trucks (10 wheels and under), I believe the best position of hands on the wheel is 7:30 and 4:30.The next best would be at 9:00 and 3:00 o'clock. I also believe that the best position for the driver is with arms only slightly bent at the elbow. It is unfortunate that many drivers bend their arms at the elbow such that the angle between forearm and biceps is less than 90 degrees sometimes much less. In some cases, that situation may be because the driver is of short stature and may have no way for his/her feet to reach the pedals except by bringing the seat close to the driving wheel, resulting in arms bent at less than 90 degrees. These drivers would be well advised to choose a car where the seat can be positioned further away from the wheel but still allows them to be within easy reach of the pedals. The reason for having the arms bent at a much large angle is that the driver's ability to react quickly when faced with an emergency requiring the wheel to be turned is that it will be much easier to turn the wheel (for instance to avoid a collision) when the driver's arms are cocked at an angle more than 90 degrees. Conversely, when the arms are cocked at a much sharper angle, (for instance when the wheel is used to rest the forearms on), the wheel or even the thighs will interfere with the forearms. Professional drivers and race drivers will frequently have their arms nearly straight (say 160 to 170 degrees angle between forearm and biceps) because it gives more leverage and control. In a collision, a driver with overly bent arms and her/his face close to the wheel is at greater risk of injury to his/her face than if he/she positions himself/herself at a greater distance.