Why 70 Miles Per Hour Is the New 55

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 03-17-10 | JOSEPH B. WHITE

[GOP_Lady]

Virginia Becomes the Latest State to Raise Its Speed Limit; Drivers in Mississippi Go Really Fast

[GOP_Lady]

It Burns My Motor To Go So Slow!

[GOP_Lady]

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[GOP_Lady]

[doorgunner69]

Too bad there is no hope of getting the idiot liberals in Hawaii to raise the limits. 50 mph on a wideopen freeway is insane. All limits here are about 10-15 mph too low, and they know it. Makes for easy revenue............

[Cicero]

The 55 MPH speed limit was Jimmy Carter’s idea. Then, when the federal limit was repealed, a lot of states decided to be politically correct and keep it. Or gradually raise it a little.

[CORedneck]

About time Virgina puts reasonable speed limits on their interstate highways. Now they need to get rid of their radar detector ban and eliminate the law that gives reckless driving tickets for the type of speeding that in other states are a simple infraction.

[muawiyah]

55 MPH saves billions of dollars in road maintenance.

[Carley]

Ft. Collins down to Denver........75 mph

[Viking2002]

I think they're low-balling the Alabama numbers. If I'm not doing 80 on the freeway, I must be having engine trouble. There are occasions when I'm doing 85 in the left lane, and I gotta move over for the line behind me to pass.

[Sybeck1]

You can easily do 80 here in Mississippi. We’re backwards that way.

[Dallas59]

70 means you can drive 85!

[Carl LaFong]

Aw, man.This is just a conspiracy to make those damn runaway Priuses legal.

[mainepatsfan]

I never liked that dramatic slow down coming out of WV on I-81 once you crossed the VA line.

[dsrtsage]

For short trips, I tend to feel most comfortable between 65-75. On long trips in rural areas, when I don’t pay attention to my speed for a while, I usually naturally creep up to 85 for long periods before I look down at the speedometer, and have to slow down before a cop sees me.

[buccaneer81]

The 55 MPH speed limit was Jimmy Carter’s idea.

Nope. Nixon.

[jessduntno]

CA in the middle? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA.

You drive under 75 in the fast lane of the freeway you WILL be run over...

[neodad]

Speed limit between El Paso and San Antonio on rural areas of I 10 is 80. Makes the trip a lot shorter.

[CORedneck]

Actually, it came in during the Nixon administration. But when Carter came in, he was for zealous enforcement of it. I remember in Indiana back in 1978 or 1979, my dad got stopped for doing 60 mph in a 55 mph on a nice 4 lane highway. Lousy 5 mph over. And Ohio was real buttheads about 55 mph limit. I know one person got a speeding ticket for 58 mph in a 55 mph zone back in 1985.

I started college in far Southern Indiana in Fall of 1985 and school was 3 hours away and I started really despising the 55 mph limit. I was from Indy at the time and had family from there to Southern Ohio all the way to NW Indiana.

The 55 MPH speed limit was Jimmy Carter’s idea. Then, when the federal limit was repealed, a lot of states decided to be politically correct and keep it. Or gradually raise it a little.

[ErnBatavia]

55 MPH saves billions of dollars in road maintenance.

No! You get over a segment quicker, there's less wear and tear. Works for me.

Love the 80 MPH limit in most of West Texas; lets you get through the godforsaken parts between Abilene and Pecos that much quicker (bonus)...

[dalereed]

I get nervous at 70 and am relaxed at 85-90.