We Won't Drive 55!

[Rocksurfer]

Here we go again, in an effort to save us some money on gas our wonderous government is considering lowering the speed limit on our highways to 55. I love these bandages to "help us" save money on our fuel costs, give me a break if I want to save money I can drive 55 now. Obviously we already have the choice to slow down to save money and gas and obviously nobody wants to. I remember when the speed limit was 55 it sucked, let the consumer make their choice on weather to save and drive slower or travel a decent speed that is constantly abused as it is. Instead of applying a band-aid to something that needs a tunaquit why not fix the problem completely and let us drill more wells.

[toyotaboy]

yea i heard about this a while back.. i think the cost of all the speeding tickets everyone will be getting will be more of a negative effect on the economy since everyones money will go to that not buying goods.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Thats retarded...  I don't drive 55 in my semi in cali so whats the point of changing it for everyone else.... 

[emsvitil]

People are already slowing down.........

They want to lower the speed limit to keep up the speeding ticket revenue.

[MiniSimp]

Here we go again, in an effort to save us some money on gas our wonderous government is considering lowering the speed limit on our highways to 55. I love these bandages to "help us" save money on our fuel costs, give me a break if I want to save money I can drive 55 now. Obviously we already have the choice to slow down to save money and gas and obviously nobody wants to. I remember when the speed limit was 55 it sucked, let the consumer make their choice on weather to save and drive slower or travel a decent speed that is constantly abused as it is. Instead of applying a band-aid to something that needs a tunaquit why not fix the problem completely and let us drill more wells.

Again? I thought we were done with 55.

When they changed it to 65 I thought I was hauling ass, but now I just drive 80 everywhere and 65 seems soooooo slow.

[Stocker]

I hated the old NMSL (National Maximum Speed Limit, aka Numbskull) -- forced on us by bureaucrats with no clue about conditions outside the DC beltline.  Started to save fuel, then maintained for years under the guise of 'safety', even though statistics indicated otherwise.  Nothing like crawling across the vastness of the American West at a mind-numbing snail's pace.  And of course the 'rolling roadblocks' which were huge masses of vehicles in a tight parade behind black-and-white cruisers.  The game was simple, pass the cop and win a prize.  The good ol' days were not always so good, and I hope we don't return to that sort of lunacy.

[Toymin8r]

I don't understand that either.   These days cars are designed to run efficiently at 70 so changing back to 55 wouldn't help anyway.

[toyotanner]

i wont even be able to hit 5th lol

[ROCKO]

 

[Rocksurfer]

But it's for our own good, how could we overlook that. They're trying to help us and show that they are doing something about this crisis. Soon there will be 8 gal. maximum fuel purchases to keep us from driving so much. Then there will be 5 hour waits for getting to the pump, ahhhhh the memories, they are fast becoming reality again.

[jrock]

I don't think it will happen. Consumers will slow down if they want, I get stuck behind ppl going 55 all the time. I even get stuck behind ppl going 65 in the fast lane, I don't know what they're thinking.

I now drive between 65-70 but I stay to the right, and I have noticed ~1mpg gain.

[MiniSimp]

It might not be 55mph, but whatever is deemed best.



FOXNEWS.COM HOME > POLITICS
       
National Speed Limit Proposed to Save Gas, Ease Prices
Friday, July 04, 2008

WASHINGTON —  An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.

As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.

Warner asked the department to determine at what speeds vehicles would be most fuel efficient, how much fuel savings would be achieved, and whether it would be reasonable to assume there would be a reduction in prices at the pump if the speed limit were lowered.

Energy Department spokeswoman Angela Hill said the department will review Warner's letter but added, "If Congress is serious about addressing gasoline prices, they must take action on expanding domestic oil and natural gas production."

The department's Web site says that fuel efficiency decreases rapidly when traveling faster than 60 mph. Every additional 5 mph over that threshold is estimated to cost motorists "essentially an additional 30 cents per gallon in fuel costs," Warner said in his letter, citing the DOE data.

[MiniSimp]

1974:



A little light reading about the old 55mph speed limit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law

[MiniSimp]

I'm movin to Montana!

[ROCKO]

 

[abnormaltoy]

Just remember...they're not our "leaders", they are our representatives...they work for us. Let them know what you think (politely). If you stand idly by, on anything, they'll invariably do what some special interest lobby wants...which is rarely, if ever, the best thing for us.

[79coyotefrg]

my letter to my congressman, and senators

Dear Mr (-----),  I recently heard about Senator Warner's  proposal to reduce the national speed limit to 55 mph  AGAIN.  Please vote against this,  vehicles today are designed to cruise  at or near 70 mph  at peak efficiency,  they are not the  boxy big v8 powered cars of the early 1970's. 

I personally drive the speed limit  but  on the freeway (which was originally designed for a speed of 70 mph) i feel like im going to be ran over.   I feel  the  lowering of the speed limit will only  give municipal governments  a better chance of  reaping revenue from speeding citations. 

please  SAY NO to a lower national speed limit.

[BLACKDOG]

Just remember...they're not our "leaders", they are our representatives...they work for us. Let them know what you think (politely). If you stand idly by, on anything, they'll invariably do what some special interest lobby wants...which is rarely, if ever, the best thing for us.

So, you're saying that fork, neck, curb is a phrase that shouldn't be used in our letter? 

[abnormaltoy]

So, you're saying that fork, neck, curb is a phrase that shouldn't be used in our letter? 

Use it only as a post script, so they read your main message!

[kneedownnate]

My truck gets better mileage at 70+ than it does at 55 

[DTB]

My truck gets better mileage at 70+ than it does at 55 

me too...that's her g-spot

[kneedownnate]

I know I'll catch flack for this, but I've long wished they'd allow motorbikes to travel at least 10mph or more over 4 wheeled vehicles.  We're lighter, more manueverable, much smaller and can stop much quicker than 99.9% of cars on the road.  10mph isn't much of a difference, especially when you've passed cars at 130 when they were going 70ish.... everything happens very fast then 

[Stocker]

I said pretty much the same thing when you were still in three-cornered pants, but it was about smaller, more fuel-efficient cars instead of bikes.   




Well....  except for the 130 mph bit

[abnormaltoy]

I know I'll catch flack for this, but I've long wished they'd allow motorbikes to travel at least 10mph or more over 4 wheeled vehicles.  We're lighter, more manueverable, much smaller and can stop much quicker than 99.9% of cars on the road.  10mph isn't much of a difference, especially when you've passed cars at 130 when they were going 70ish.... everything happens very fast then 

Good Lord man! Do you know how many ill equipped riders there are out there? If you can fog up a mirror, you can get a license. More and more often Joe or Jill Sixpack are turning to bikes to save $3.50 a week in gas. That's all I need, for some beer swillin, goober smoocher to plow into the back of my truck trying to go 10 mph faster!

I would, however, be in favor of graduated licenses for use on the freeway. For those willing to take, and able to pass, a very specialized test, the left most lane could haul ass. If Miss Constipato the librarian couldn't pass the test she would be restricted to the right most lane, with a lower speed limit.

[82 HiLux]

I would, however, be in favor of graduated licenses for use on the freeway. For those willing to take, and able to pass, a very specialized test, the left most lane could haul ass. If Miss Constipato the librarian couldn't pass the test she would be restricted to the right most lane, with a lower speed limit.

dude, thats the best idea ive ever heard. i wish more people had this mindset
stupid dumb people driving are the worst. you should have to pass an excruciating road test in order to be able to get a lisence in the first place!

[kneedownnate]

Good Lord man! Do you know how many ill equipped riders there are out there? If you can fog up a mirror, you can get a license.

Yes, sadly I know this all too well.  When I went in to get my license I was very well prepared as were most the others, but a couple dull shiners were there too.  When we first started the instructor said "everybody here will pass today, it just might take you a few tries!".  One guy was there on a sub 400 pound bike with about 155hp at the flywheel.  He couldn't do the slalom without running over nearly every cone, couldn't even pull off the turns at the end without bumping outside the lines.  He was a really nice guy, but it didn't take him long to crash the bike while doing a wheelie.  Then a really cool friend of ours who only has 1 leg bought the bike and modified it to shift and brake on the right side!

Trust me, the same douchebags who would plow into the back of your truck if allowed to go 10mph over by law are the same guys who'd do it with the current laws in place too    I know there are lots of squids out there on bikes, but there are lots of guys like me who can ride pretty competently at higher speeds too.  I'm also talking about on highways and freeways, it's obviously be a bad idear running around the city streets!  I actually ride in town slower than a lot of cars, partly because I don't want to draw attention to myself from johny L and partly because so many drivers don't have a fawkin clue how to drive!

[kneedownnate]

I would, however, be in favor of graduated licenses for use on the freeway. For those willing to take, and able to pass, a very specialized test, the left most lane could haul ass. If Miss Constipato the librarian couldn't pass the test she would be restricted to the right most lane, with a lower speed limit.

Pretty much my thoughts    Not like "You just got a bike?  You get to go as fast as you want!" , but something more specialized and harder to get.

[abnormaltoy]

Pretty much my thoughts    Not like "You just got a bike?  You get to go as fast as you want!" , but something more specialized and harder to get.

I am/was a pretty decent rider back in the long ago...but that was on 60's and 70's bikes. The bike nowdays are so advanced...it's scary. Any pimply faced butt munch with $15 can ride a world class performer. I know, in my heart, I would kill myself within a week of getting a modern bike.

[jimbo74]

how do they figure a 55mph speed limit will save lives over say 65 or 70?


you can die in a car crash doing 25 mph..... hell death can occurr at slower speeds as well given the right circumstances.....

[BLACKDOG]

how do they figure a 55mph speed limit will save lives over say 65 or 70?


you can die in a car crash doing 25 mph..... hell death can occurr at slower speeds as well given the right circumstances.....

You can also die tripping over a shoelace.  The idea is that at slower speeds, less accidents will occur.  In theory, it makes sense, because at 55 mph, the force of impact is lessened, the opportunity to react is greater, and the reactionary forces are lessened as well.  Sure, you can die in an accident at 25mph, but your odds are much greater than surviving an accident at 70mph.  Its just an odds game, crunching numbers.  In the past, it turned out that it didn't make a difference, because people still sped, just like they do today.