Posted on 07/12/2008 12:37:30 PM PDT by The Duke
Please pardon this "original material" vanity posting, however all the talk this Saturday morning (and previously) of re-imposing a nationwide 55 MPH speed limit has motivied me to take up the keyboard to make an important point that seems to be being missed in this debate. That point is that imposing such a limit inherently places a value on peoples' time.
Let's do the math. Since both sides have been claiming that this speed limit will result in fuel savings of 2% from traveling at 70 MPH, then let's do the math using those numbers. We'll also use a vehicle that gets 25 miles per gallon, and consider a trip of 100 miles.
If I'm traveling 100 miles at 70 miles per hour, then I'm going to arrive at my destination in 1.43 hours (100/70). If I travel the same distance at 55 MPH then I'm going to get there in 1.82 hours (100/55). The additoinal time to arrive at my destination is 1.82 - 1.43 hours = 24 minutes.
Now, if I'm paying $4/gallon for fuel and getting 25 miles per gallon, then the trip is going to cost me $16 dollars. A two percent savings of that is exactly thirty-two cents.
So, if I'm in favor of reducing the speed limit from 70 MPH to 55 MPH then I'm saying I would be willing to lose right at a third of an hour in exchange for right at a third of a dollar. In other words, my time is worth no more to me than a dollar an hour!
The reality is that this ridiculous 55 MPH speed limit idea isn't about saving fuel or money - it's about asserting control. There are those in our society - mainly those who have gravitated towards politics - who derive their sense of fulfillment by seeing others obey their dictates.
Several years ago when Al (never-met-a-tree-he-didn't-hug) Gore had the floodgates for a river opened just so he could have his picture taken in a canoe, he wasted an amount of water equal to the savings realized by the entire nation's use of low-flow toilets for TWO YEARS. Do you think this clown really cared about the environment? Of course not, the perfumed prince simply got off on the thought that he could force an entire nation to start flushing twice.
The next time you're on the Interstate conduct a little test and slow down to 55, and just get a preview of what the liberal clowns have in store for us all. While you're at it, you might as well bump up the thermostat in your home by a few degrees. Maybe, just maybe, you'll then be motivated to make your own feelings heard by our poltiical "leaders".
You really don't want to stop that, do you? You want your hands on the levers, rather than get rid of them?
Enjoy tooling around in Western Carolina at 55. I’ve been there and it’s a good speed. But, you might want to consider somebody other than yourself. 55 means death to the Western states because we will lose the mobility that comes of being able to travel from Phoenix to LA in one day, now that we can’t go by air anymore.
I would have found no pleasure in reporting his caving in to the dark side on this issue. He would have us paying a carbon tax with carbon rations like the brits in his first term. Damn! Cheated again by a snake-oil salesman.
I should note that I find that practice to be abhorrent. I view it as just another way the federal government usurps states' rights. Just to be clear, do you approve of this practice, or in your opinion should it be ended?
I've done this jsut to see if there's any difference in the mileage, and you can see this a lot more easily now with cars that can give you an instant mpg reading. The only time I ever noticed the mileage dropping off was above 80 mph. Otherwise it was nearly the same at 55, 65 or 75.
In NJ another stretch of the Garden State Parkway was recently cut back to a 55mph limit, between miles 100 and 80. Now, if you're familiar with the GSP at all, you know that this area is one that has seen a tremendous amount of growth, plus there is access to central shore areas. IOW, the number of people who travel that part of the road regularly has increased - and so has the potential for revenue!
What's truly ironic, though, are the new signs informing you that you are under helicopter surveillance. Wonder how much it's costing them to keep those choppers in the air?
Too many people feeding at the trough...starting with McQueeg. They don’t want to hear from real conservatives, they enjoy their num-nums too much. Meanwhile, McQueeg hasn’t voted on anything in months, and he’s paid.
BTW, I’ve been shocked to read what John’s been saying on this thread about the wonderful nature of the Feds telling us in AZ we need to slow down by 20 MPH!
Point well taken, friend. That was a very poor choice of words on my part.
Congressman Billybob
First in the series, "American Government: The Owner's Manual"
It's good to know you think the practice of federal govt bribing the states with their own money should be ended. On that, we're in agreement.
If someone visibly demonstrates an inability to control his vehicle effectively, and if that person is drunk, prosecute.
What freedom-loving people are against is the state's assertion that it has the right to stop even those who are driving perfectly normally, on the basis that they might be intoxicated. After all, if many people who have a 0.08 BAC are capable of driving normally, that means that driving normally isn't proof that one isn't over the 0.08BAC limit.
If the speed limit on an expressway with a metered entrance were set at 550mph, and if the goal was to keep traffic on the expressway moving at top speed, the allowable rate of entry would indeed have to be slower than if the speed limit were lower. On the other hand, in more practical scenarios, vehicle speeds will be determined by traffic density rather than vice versa. I'm not quite clear how the actual speed of travel on a road would exceed the optimum speed under such a scenario.
The graph would be rather better if the X axis values were equally spaced.
Maybe the government should post a speed limit of 1.81*10^12 furlongs per fortnight. Easier and cheaper than FTL research I would think.
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