Hi All,

Recently I found this website advocating a national speed limit:
Drive 55 Conservation Project - Observe all speed limits, never exceed 55 MPH - Home

In my opinion, it would be a very good thing for the US if we all started driving at this speed on the highways, interstates included. There would be many fewer speed-related accidents and deaths, we'd use less oil (and stretch our gas supply farther into the future), and people would be less stressed out and happier overall. I think it's a win-win-win situation! Most Fit owners (at least those of us with manual transmissions) would probably break 40 mpg if they stuck to 55 or less -- I get my best mileage at 55 or a bit under.

Any thoughts?

 

They can impliment it, but it wont change people driving habits. Cops dont even do the 65 speed limit.

 

Well it has it's good a bad points.

Who will want to really go slow so even though the real issue driving this is fuel.... many will hate wasting time on the road. Some of us have figured out how to get 50+mpg and still exceed 55

The sad part is other than your own savings and in general less fuel used, I'm here to say it will do little to control what they charge us at the pump.
That is the real issue now, last I looked. Supply is just fine.

I guess it's better than heading toward being another 3rd world nation and everyone on mopeds

 

Haha, you and the family doing little road trip apprx 400 miles kids fighting in back seat, wife not having a good day and you have to piss so badly but your making such good MPG and time. Your on open road.. going 55mph. I think NOT

 

yeah i think it would be a horrible idea. and would not follow that law. its 65mph here in md and i always go slightly faster and so does everybody else. went on a road trip to west virgnia where the speed limit is 70 and people were goin 80 or faster...was there for 4 days didnt see a single accident. i see accidents every day here in md where the speed limit is 65. its not the speed limit, its the idiots who they give the DL to who have no right to be on the road...

 

I support the idea of lowering the speed limit. Sure, everyone will exceed that speed, just as they do now. However - cars, by and large, will be going slower - thus using less fuel, and cutting our dependence on oil by a sizable amount.

Think of it this way. You're on the highway... let's say I-70 where the speed limit is typically 70 MPH. Most folks are doing 80 MPH. Where speed limits are set to 60 MPH, most folks are doing 70 MPH.

SO - if the speed limit were 55 MPH, most folks would still only break the law so much, so likely they would be doing 65 MPH on the interstate - which is much slower than they are doing now.

I'm all for it. I drive 50-55 on the interstate, though. I used to drive MUCH FASTER though. But I care about fuel and money too much to ignore the problem.

 

Why? your logic doesn't follow.

True. They don't follow the law now, as you pointed out. People tend to do about 10 MPH over the speed limit; 60 MPH speed limit, folks drive 70 MPH. If the limit were lowered to 55 MPH, folks would be doing 65 MPH. So they would still be breaking the law (what else is new?), but people would be driving slower. Slower speeds, less fuel used.

So because most drivers do not obey the speed limit, should we do away with a speed limit entirely? I think not.

Perhaps. But everyone is affected by reaction time. The slower you are going, the more time you have to react to changing situations. I do agree, there are far too many unskilled drivers on the road. But just because there are unsafe drivers on the road doesn't mean that the speed limit shouldn't be lowered. The issue is fuel, really, not safety. The guy who is suggesting a lowered speed limit may note that it would save lives (which I, too, believe it would), but the main reason is oil.

 

dunno about anybody else but i wont slow down for a new speed limit. i dont drive crazy, im reasonable but wont go any slower than i do.

i have a feeling if this passes i will be giving out 75% more middle fingers.

edit:

yeah well why dont people just car pool more often? public trans...there are plenty of options. and always have been...people just DONT do it.

 

Yes they do...but they call it a 35 mph zone.

Edit:

Traffic jams! Traffic Jams! The slower people drive, the more traffic jams we'll see, the more gas will be burned up on idling. More non-hybrids driver will acellerate, then slam on their brakes because traffic isn't going fast enough. More gas will be used up.

 

In order for this to work, we gotta implement the thing they have in Japan where if you're going too fast, the car starts beeping at you. Americans are impatient and easily get annoyed so I'm sure it'll work. ;D

 

Yes, back in 74 when we had rationing and 55 mph limits enforced the gasoline consumption changed very little. It turned out 90% of consumer driving was in 55 or less limits anyway.

 

Perhaps. But everyone is affected by reaction time. The slower you are going, the more time you have to react to changing situations. I do agree, there are far too many unskilled drivers on the road. But just because there are unsafe drivers on the road doesn't mean that the speed limit shouldn't be lowered. The issue is fuel, really, not safety. The guy who is suggesting a lowered speed limit may note that it would save lives (which I, too, believe it would), but the main reason is oil.[/quote]


slower speed does not give you a better reaction time when the ahole behind you is a foot away because he thinks if he does that you will speed up. have you ever tried to keep a safe distance only to have some moron cut in front of you. nothing will change until people start driving properly, so by that logic nothing will ever change.

 

we need to change the carpool lane to the autobahn......no speed limit.

 

They should do the opposite and increase highway speed limits, they are a nuisance and it feels like scratching nails on a chalkboard idling along at those speeds. I would gladly trade MPG for more freedom on the highway.

 

I have to disagree with this statement. I'd be pissed if the fastest I could legally go was 55. I bought a fuel efficient car so I wouldn't have to stress over my mileage, and while I monitor what I'm getting I'm not bothered if it drops a little. This would piss a lot of people off, I know in Kansas and Missouri the speed limit on most highways is 70, thats a 15MPH decrease, imo it would only result in the extra $ saved on fuel ending up in the pockets of Johnny Law who'd be out in force to enforce a rediculous speed limit.

 

If I remember right the 55mph limit that existed back then was done primarily to save gas. Is it really true that consumption didn't change? That doesn't sound right, but I don't have any data one way or another.

I know that there was a big concern when they bumped it back up to 70 that consumption would increase.....

 

slower speed does not give you a better reaction time when the ahole behind you is a foot away because he thinks if he does that you will speed up. have you ever tried to keep a safe distance only to have some moron cut in front of you. nothing will change until people start driving properly, so by that logic nothing will ever change.[/quote]


Reaction time has increased by 200% thanks to cell phones. To getr around that we shouldn't drive over 25 mph.

 

That's a Reductio ad absurdum

I.E. absurd argument

 

One of our highways here in CT has a 4-5 mile stretch that is posted at 55mph. No one goes 55, and the cops don't enforce it. Everyone wouldn't stand for a 55mph highway speed limit. Most would ignore it and if they started to strictly enforce it, it would probably just cause an outroar.

 

I think it is a terrible idea. The Interstate Highway System was designed for speeds of 75-80 MPH. To lower the limit to 55 MPH is as ridiculous now, as it was during the 70s, the first time it was lowered. One of the disadvantages of lowering it is that you increase the difference between speeds. That is to say, you have a certain amount of people who would adhere to the new, lower limit, but then you also have a significant number who will continue to drive at the older, higher speeds. This is what happened in the 1970s and 80s. When the 55 MPH limit was dropped one of the major concerns was that the death rate would rise, but it did not happen. What did happen; however, was that law enforcement started losing a lot of money due to decreased speeding citations. I know, I received numerous tickets for doing 75 in a 55, including five traffic school sessions