Posted on 07/26/2008 10:17:58 AM PDT by Entrepreneur
Liberals say Iraq is another Vietnam; conservatives say Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter redux. ABBA's a mega-hit and Elton John's going to be performing at Madison Square Garden. Had enough of these '70s flashbacks? Brace yourself for another: the return of the national speed limit, courtesy of one of the country's most venerable politicians.
Senator John Warner (R-VA) — elected in 1978 — recently expressed interest in the idea of a national speed limit to conserve gasoline. Warner, who is not running for re-election this year, wrote to U.S. Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman, asking "at what speed is the typical vehicle traveling on America's highways today most fuel efficient?"
Warner told TIME his concern is for "the many millions and millions [of Americans] of limited means, sitting around their kitchen table trying to figure out how to make ends meet." Unlike long-term alternative energy sources, Warner says, a speed limit would work to bring down gas prices immediately. "Maybe some guy's got a better idea," he says. "But I haven't seen it."
The National Maximum Speed Limit of 55 mph was created in 1974, when Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Energy Highway Conservation Act. Prior to that, states had been free to set their own speed limits, but the new law threatened to strip Federal highway funding from any state straying above the national standard. The ostensible purpose of this limit was to keep down gas prices, which had been driven through the roof by an OPEC embargo touched off by the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. And with gas-prices once again sky-high, Warner isn't alone in talking up a cap on speeding.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
A reinstatement of the 55 mph speed limit will induce a depression. The productivity loss will more than offset any possible gain in fuel usage.
Business will flounder. Jobs will be lost.
Most of my driving is in town, so it would not have much impact. The one time I drove on I-20 to Dallas, I got the best gas mileage ever going around 70.
If you want to drive 45 get on the feeder and knock yourself out.
How fast I drive is not your business. Speed limits are the maximum safe speed for the road, not how fast a stupid liberal wants me to drive.
Sure, I’d drive 55...for a few moments as I accelerate to 85.
there is no 55 on my speedo. it goes, 40 | | | 60
I commented on what speed would produce the maximum efficiency, not on whether that speed should become law.
Try reading more carefully.
Seems to me like there are only 2 types of drivers on the highways these days: The ones who go way over the speed limit, and the ones who get in the way of everyone else by going at their own leisurely rate. Both scare and annoy me. It’s rare that I get to even set the cruise control at 65 because I always seem to have the misfortune of getting behind someone going to slow. Then I change lanes and have to speed up because of people getting up to my bumper. Seems like it’s no-win.
Montana for quite a few years had an official speed limit of 55 outside cities.
If stopped driving a “safe speed” above that limit, the LEO collected an on-site “fine” of $5 and send you on your way. No points or record.
We called it the speeding fee.
My Maxima gets peak gas mileage at 70 NOT 45.
Try reading more carefully.
Try doing some research.
Jimmy Carter, thanks for the memories!
Between Phoenix and SoCal, pretty much everybody drives 85. The speed limit is 75.
***Warner told TIME his concern is for “the many millions and millions [of Americans] of limited means, sitting around their kitchen table trying to figure out how to make ends meet.***
Then tell them to drive 55 and stay in the right lane when they do it.
When I lived in Montana the speed limit was 55 at night because of open ranges. During the daytime it was, "reasonable and prudent" which often meant 90.
Driving from Reno to Great Falls the speed limit is currently 75. Has anyone calculated what an extra 4 hours at 55 would be in terms of gallons-per-hour?
The 55 mph “gas saving” business was another liberal myth. Another example of some pinhead setting up a computer model that just didn’t jive with the real world.
It didn’t lower gas consumption (gas isn’t “saved”, less is used). And it didn’t make highways safer. It did however, lower productivity of transportation. It did allow the feds to muscle in on the states in a new way. And it should have taught states a lesson about “free” money from the feds. It always comes with strings.
My Jag gets peak gas mileage at 70 as well.
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