Highway or Field?

Learning to fly in the midwest, the CFIs said go for the soybeans over corn, and land with the rows. Across the rows is a bumpy ride.
I have been told the same. Sunflower fields are pretty good too. I know someone who landed in in a sun flower field in parachute during her first skydive jump. the riggers were more worried about the chute than her :d
 
Around here a lot of the options are desert. Land parallel to the washes.
 
The problem with roads is wires. You can't see them from altitude. Interstates are maybe a little better, but many smaller roads are crisscrossed with utility wires. Lots of fields in my neck of the woods. My instructor taught me how to distinguish the cabbage fields from the corn fields from up high. :D

Golf courses aren't a bad option either. I almost had my own golf course moment years ago when my spinner failed on takeoff. The fairway looked like a very good option.
 
When we had a catastrophic engine failure in our 172 we were 4 miles from an airport at 1,000 ft. The choices were trees or a road. Nothing else. We chose the road and Leslie landed with only a ding to the left wing from a street sign. Leslie did a great job. I was just lucky.
 
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