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Topic Index > Car Questions > 55 mph...it's time has come.

55 mph...it's time has come.

55 mph national speed limit.....it’s time has come.

There are many arguments against, among which is that people won’t slow down.
Many were raised in the age of the 70 mph speed limit with bigger turnpike cruisers and cheaper gas the norm and we adjusted.
I would argue that today's cars are better prepared for lower speed limits. A 4 cyl Camry gets 10 mpg better at 55 than at 75. That would imply a significant improvement in the 55 to 65 mph comparison.

-There would be less need for the 70 mph cruiser, further encouraging the use of smaller engine cars.
-Fewer traffic fatalities were consistently reported in the 70’s.
-Commuting times in congested areas would be marginally affected and.in many cases, a positive way.
-The cost of conversion, signs etc. is dumped back into the economy with domestic labor.
-Results are instantly achieved, no wait.
-Cars last longer
-Fewer repairs...
-Less road damage
-Eventually, more commuter lanes with higher speeds could encourage mass transit by bus and alternate travel.
-The Yaris, Focus and Fit are right at home.

Would compliance be 100% ? Absolutely not..but neither is it now. Speed limits of 80 mph find people traveling 90 mph. The average speed would be reduced significantly, enough to have a big effect on oil prices..... eventually, I believe, stabilizing the dollar.
Everyone touts the autobahn. The truth is, there MAY be fewer accidents per mile, but they are hugely more spectacular with greater chance of death and serious injury. Plus, the autobahn is a specialized highway with greater thought given to speed and more limited access.

Let’s make an impact NOW. It’s a struggle to come up with many down sides that don’t include the investments many of us have made in our egos.

Posted by: mconn

I'll bet the insurance companies didn't think the $10 tickets were "silly."

Can we vote now? Or must we politely listen to the same ideas repeated over and over again?

All of my own notions have been expressed already. I've nothing new to add. Wake me up when it's time to vote so I can bellow a resounding "NO!"

As entertaining as that vote might be, it would never get that far. Most terrible ideas only get one chance, even american politicians have figured that out.

Make sure you don't vote for Hillary; that's an idea she supports, at least til someone finds out.

"Make sure you don't vote for Hillary; that's an idea she supports, at least til someone finds out."

I gave up voting for any american politicians decades ago. I just consider it a spectator support now, sorta like professional wrestling (without as much dignity).

Hillary seems to support plenty of things that don't have a chance of happening (at least until the general election campaign starts).

Make sure you don't vote for Hillary; that's an idea she supports, at least til someone finds out.

So now the Democrats are getting into this. This was a republican idea when Nixon proposed it. And Regan even made a speech in his early career about how the 55mph is good for the country.

And I'll cancel your "no" vote with my "yes" vote. The 55 mph speed limit is the one single thing we "the government" can do to fight the big oil companies who are taking money from our wallets and putting it into their already bulging bank accounts. 55 won't make people drive at the speed limit anymore than 65 makes people drive at 65. But, with proper law enforcement, and as insurance rates due to speeding tickets escalate for those who choose to ignore it, 55 will get those who now drive at 75 slow down to about 65 and by getting most drivers to slow down by about 5 to 10 mph on the highway gas consumption will drop and that will keep more money in our wallets and reduce demand. I just read an article that said United Parcel Service (UPS) saved several millions of gallons of gas last year in it's fleet just by rerouting it's trucks to make fewer right hand turns.

"It’s be tried, it’s failed is absolutly wrong. It along with other measures made a significant difference in overall gas consumption.
Gas prices responded quickly and the reason it stayed on the books as long as it did....the dramatic decrease in deaths.
-No one wants to do it....right, I hated it. We did get accusmed to it though and it was a much more relaxed a trip. The important factor of speed diferences was much less...a big problem.
-Urban areas......55....there and beyond
-dumbest of course...if you’re looking for a magic tech bullet to solve your problems....immediate solutions that are obvious are “dumb” and they just work. "

Yes, I remember when Nixon "temporarely" reduced the speed limit in response to the OPEC oil embargo. Restauraunts that used to stay open till 1:00 AM now closed at 8:00 PM. It was hard to buy gas at night or on weekends. Towns that were alive with activity till midnight suddenly rolled up the sidewalks at 8:00. The amount of driving took a nosedive and yes, there was a drop in fatalities and oil consumption, yet, the 55 mph speed limit got all the credit.

Updated: 03/22/2008 01:43:21 PM

"It’s be tried, it’s failed is absolutly wrong. It along with other measures made a significant difference in overall gas consumption.
Gas prices responded quickly and the reason it stayed on the books as long as it did....the dramatic decrease in deaths.

Others have pointed out that reduction in death rates has been ongoing and not really attributable to the 55 limit in the 70s. Let me also refute the notion that the 55 limit had any great effect on gas prices and supply. What *did* have an effect was a lot of Americans getting rid of large boats and buying smaller, more fuel efficient, cars. A lot of people just drove less. The price of gasoline drove people to change their driving habits and their cars. In the late 70s you could buy a big American luxury barge for cheap because everyone wanted a smaller car and better mileage. The argument for 55 changed to "saving lives" very early on because it was obvious that it wasn't saving fuel.

We need a whole shopping cart load of approaches that the Wash DC people don't have the courage to enact. Instead, as the Iraq war escalated and then dragged on, OPEC raised oil prices. And our domestic mega-oil companies did the same. Just as we consumers were paying record dollars at the pump, our major oil companies also reached major milestones, and that is record profits. In fact, Exxon-Moble recorded the largest profit of any company, anywhere, ever last year.

I'm no oilman, but I believe we need to posthaste open up the reserves in Alaska and build a new pipeline from there to Washington state, start at least
a dozen nuclear power plants, and become foreign oil free by 2025. This I think will have two immediate effects: 1) Will reduce the growing risk of nuclear wars world wide, 2) Will serve to reduce barrel prices in the OPEC effort to keep usage and net profits up to support their new lifestyle. Once we are indpendent of OPEC, oil prices and have reduced demand though the use of conservation and nuclear power, we will all settle into a more stable
domestic and world situation.

Are there sacrifices, yes, surely, but there is no better reason for those sacrifices than to stop our reliance on middle east interests. Can anyone here imagine what the outcome of a nuclear middle eastern war beyond the immediate human toll? I'd say world wide chaos is a pretty sure bet. We are too dependent on a shakey political region.

We would all be reduced to bicycles, and would travel far below 55 MPH.

Sheesh, is there no end to people wanting to legislate behavior. It's a dumb idea so get over it. It was a failed Nixon Kissenger idea but designed more as a way to hide the profits made by Kissenger's banking friends with the higher price of oil. A lot of law enforcement liked it because it brought in extreme amounts of revenue.

Try commuting 120 miles at 55 on the freeway. I did, and the patrol would be waiting over each hill for those going 58. Had nothing to do with gas savings or safety.

"Sheesh, is there no end to people wanting to legislate behavior......"

That is all laws do. There is a law against breaking and entering. There is a law against murder. Aren't those behaviors worth legislating against? You may disagree with a law that slows you down, but don't say that behavior should go unlegislated.

I agree, some laws are necessary; this particular one isn't.

If this law isn't "necessary" why is any speed limit necessary?

Yes 55 Minimum.

The lower speed limit leads to more congestion. The cars cannot get away from the Huge 18 wheelers and we donate more money to a corrupt system in traffic fines.

It is time for unlimited top speed along open stretches of the interstate and a 65 in city on the interstate. The only other way it will work is if the speed for the trucks is alowed down to 35mph. Less momentum less damage.

Another idea. You can go faster if you pass a more strict advanced level driving exam and your car gets certified every year. We cannot all slow down because ooh mommy I am driving a dinky. You should have better driving skills. I used to own an MR2 for a very long time and was always comfortable with it.
By all means if you are a white knuckled cell phone yapping driver you should be slowed down.

Updated: 03/22/2008 03:36:37 PM

"The lower speed limit leads to more congestion."

I disagree. The congestion is always at a bottleneck. If you move faster, you just get to the blockage sooner.

"It is time for unlimited top speed along open stretches of the interstate amd a 65 in city on the interstate."

So, you want Honda Accords to get 20 MPG or less on the open highway? How does that make sense? Doesn't gas cost enough already?

"So, you want Honda Accords to get 20 MPG or less on the open highway? How does that make sense? Doesn't gas cost enough already?"

Of course gasoline doesn't cost enough, that's why we are all willing to drive at 80 mph without regard to cost (that includes me). If gasoline wasn't dirt cheap I might actually think twice about how much my speed is affecting my cost per mile, as it is the cost difference is negligible (I can still drive about 30 miles for the cost of my morning coffee).

Updated: 03/22/2008 03:22:05 PM

So, you want Honda Accords to get 20 MPG or less on the open highway? How does that make sense? Doesn't gas cost enough already?

You can always drive in the right lane at 55 you dont have to go hell for the leather. It is all about choice. You can have MPG and go slow in the right lane or you can spend your money and go a little faster.

Price of gas is more complicated than just driving fast. Remember it used to be 33 dollars per gallon before liberation of iraq. And they were still charging $2.5 per gallon.

You love your MPG slow down,

You love your MPG slow down,

The big problem with letting people drive at whatever speed they please is that it is a hazard to have a wide range of speeds on a highway. All traffic should be moving at close to the same speed. If I want to drive 55 in the right lane to save gas, and you want to drive 80 in the left to get someplace in a hurry, the speed difference is dangerous. And let's not even talk about the idiots doing 55 in the left lane and the leadfoots passing on the right at 80...

I think that it's time to slow down, but there is no need to reduce existing speed limits. Just enforce them. I understand that Virginia just undertook a major enforcement effort; Maryland does so on holidays. I see people going what seems like 20 MPH over the speed limit frequently during rush hour, weaving in and out of traffic. There are even more people (most, I think) that drive 10 MPH over the speed limit whether it is 55 or 65. We could have a significant impact on fuel prices if we would all just go the posted speed limit. I used to go about 10 MPH over the limit until a few years ago. Now that I've slowed down, I find that I have much better fuel economy (~10%) and I am much less likely to get into sticky situations that require quick - and dangerous - reactions. Yes, my 30 mile commute does take as much as 5 minutes longer, but that is a small price to pay.

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