We Can't drive 55 ?

uscitizen

uscitizen

Villified User
EYES ON THE ROAD
By JOSEPH B. WHITE

Relearning How to Drive 55
Cutting Highway Speeds Can Help Save Fuel,
But Are Americans Willing to Slow Down?
July 14, 2008

Even with gas prices cresting above $4 a gallon, large SUVs, pickup trucks and even Toyota Priuses barrel down freeways here in suburban Detroit at more than 75 miles per hour -- well beyond the 55 mph that was the national speed limit during the '70s and '80s.

If the U.S. Energy Department's ( http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml )calculations are right, all these lead foots could save the equivalent of 29 cents to 94 cents a gallon if they slowed down just to 60 mph -- and reduce the fuel they burn by about 7% to 23%.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121578056201145757.html?mod=hpp_us_autos
 
Watermark said:
Whenever the driving speeds on national highways were increased from 55 to 65 gas consumption went up 1%.
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Several factors are different now. More cars for one.
Also all driving is not done on 65-70 MPH interstates.
Check out the link I provided in the middle of the post.
 
You are giving me a severe headache. For whatever reason, maybe you are too young to remember it, maybe you don't have the mental capacity to understand it, I am not sure, but for whatever reason, you don't understand that we tried this once before. It does save fuel on paper, in theory, but it simply does not work in practicality. If you will take just five minutes to step away from the koolaid vat and listen, you may understand why.

First off, people never drive the posted speed limits. On average, they drive 5-10 mph over the posted speed limits. When the limit is reduced to 55, they tend to drive 10-15 mph over the speed limits. So the average fuel savings is never going to be the "Utopian" ideal of what your studies indicate, because people will not drive the speed limit.

The fuel savings studies never factor in the individual drivers rate of acceleration. How fast you go from 0 to 55, or 70... this has much more impact on fuel economy, and if we educated people about this, or made our cars with governors on the engine that kept them from accelerating too fast, it would save considerably more fuel than driving 55. We aren't going to do this either, because Americans want cars which accelerate quickly, so they can get to where they are going faster.

Finally, the effects of a 55 mph speed limit on the economy, has to be considered. There is a huge difference in the time it takes to transport goods across the country at 55 mph vs. 70 mph. This means the trucker has to be paid more, and fewer loads can be hauled in the same amount of time, which in essence means, the price of everything transported goes up. Not to mention, the increased number of speeding fines which are paid by the company, and subsequently reimbursed by the consumer in the form of increased prices.

The 55 mph speed limit is successful at helping small towns finance law enforcement, it's very good at making transported goods cost the consumer more, and it probably helps the pharmaceutical industry sell more medications to people with high blood pressure during summer vacation season. But it really doesn't save that much gasoline. Not to mention the cost to re-implement the failed policy, re-making all the signs along the highways, and having to put those up all across the country, this would probably cost the government more than the savings they would realize.
 
uscitizen said:
simple to do put speed regulator moduole in the EEC. nad they won't run overe 55 mph.
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As I said, we aren't going to do that because Americans want to get to where they are going faster, not slower. There would be an influx of 'workarounds' and methods to 'beat the system' if you tried to implement such a thing, and retrofitting every car in America with this, would cost trillions, if it could even be done. I imagine there are a number of vehicles still on the road which do not have an EEC to put a module in. So what are you going to do, have some cars driving 55 max and others driving 70? That's really safe, dumbass!

Face it, your idea is not popular, even among your pinhead brethren, yet here you are, insisting that this be forced down our throats against our will, like the little fascist bastard you are. People didn't like the 55 mph speed limit, and we voted people into office to get rid of it, and they did! We ain't going back, no matter how much your bird-brain thinks we should. Besides, I have shown you why it won't work, even if we all, by some miracle, believed in your idea!
 
I have seen speedometers with the red "55" and quite frankly it strikes me as a relic of an older, darker world, that vanished before I was conscious enough of it to speak out. But it still inspires fear in the depths of my heart!!! :eek:

NEVER AGAIN
 
Dixie said:
As I said, we aren't going to do that because Americans want to get to where they are going faster, not slower. There would be an influx of 'workarounds' and methods to 'beat the system' if you tried to implement such a thing, and retrofitting every car in America with this, would cost trillions, if it could even be done. I imagine there are a number of vehicles still on the road which do not have an EEC to put a module in. So what are you going to do, have some cars driving 55 max and others driving 70? That's really safe, dumbass!

Face it, your idea is not popular, even among your pinhead brethren, yet here you are, insisting that this be forced down our throats against our will, like the little fascist bastard you are. People didn't like the 55 mph speed limit, and we voted people into office to get rid of it, and they did! We ain't going back, no matter how much your bird-brain thinks we should. Besides, I have shown you why it won't work, even if we all, by some miracle, believed in your idea!
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It wouldn't cost trillions. That's absurd.
 
Dixie said:
As I said, we aren't going to do that because Americans want to get to where they are going faster, not slower. There would be an influx of 'workarounds' and methods to 'beat the system' if you tried to implement such a thing, and retrofitting every car in America with this, would cost trillions, if it could even be done. I imagine there are a number of vehicles still on the road which do not have an EEC to put a module in. So what are you going to do, have some cars driving 55 max and others driving 70? That's really safe, dumbass!

Face it, your idea is not popular, even among your pinhead brethren, yet here you are, insisting that this be forced down our throats against our will, like the little fascist bastard you are. People didn't like the 55 mph speed limit, and we voted people into office to get rid of it, and they did! We ain't going back, no matter how much your bird-brain thinks we should. Besides, I have shown you why it won't work, even if we all, by some miracle, believed in your idea!
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LOL, Americans are going to have to do a lot of things they don't want to do.

I expect that most cars can be reprogrammed to limit the speed to 55-60 mph.
 
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I wholly disagree with the idea that society has to enforce some form of control over the speed at which an individual drives. I agree with Damo's point, and it is part of a continuing observation that I have made that would indicate to me that we really do not have a fuel crisis. Drivers have not bothered to slow down to the speed limit, the simplest and most readily available solution, even when that limit is above 55mph.
 
Troglodyte27 said:
I wholly disagree with the idea that society has to enforce some form of control over the speed at which an individual drives. I agree with Damo's point, and it is part of a continuing observation that I have made that would indicate to me that we really do not have a fuel crisis. Drivers have not bothered to slow down to the speed limit, the simplest and most readily available solution, even when that limit is above 55mph.
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Yeah but if only some of the drivers slow down it creates unsafe conditions. that is why it must be mandated. But yeah , no speed limits go thru the school zone at 75.
Sorry pulled a Damo there and pushed it to the absurd.
 
Right now, I drive the speed limit becase I do not want to be that asshole on the road that drives really slow, but i need to conserve gas. If they made the speed limit 55, I would drive 55. I would gladly turn on cruise at 55, leave 10 minutes early from the office and have the convoy of cars wanting to save gas around me. Every time I drive the speed limit, it always seems someone slows down and follows me at that speed. It's almost like they are afraid to drive at that speed until they see others doing it.
 
uscitizen said:
Yeah but if only some of the drivers slow down it creates unsafe conditions. that is why it must be mandated. But yeah , no speed limits go thru the school zone at 75.
Sorry pulled a Damo there and pushed it to the absurd.
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Sure, my choice to do the limit (and go slower than the general traffic flow) does not mean that I should feel entitled to do that in the left lane. That interferes with others who choose differently, but the BS about those drivers who do the legal limit being the unsafe ones - here's a nice big cup of STFU.

I think some people feel it is their job to enforce the limit and do "the limit in the left" thing on purpose. I disagree. It is the job of law enforcement to enforce speed limits and to ensure that drivers are wearing their legally required prescription lenses.

The one "move" that really pisses me off is Bubba in his truck with his wrist draped over the steering wheel and smoking, phoning, twiddling the radio knobs (or his girlfriend's knobs) with the other hand. He's not even holding the wheel.
 
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