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Automotive News & Views Should the US government bring back the 55 mph max speed limit again?
1418 messages, Last post on Dec 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 14, 2008 12:08 pm) Fast drivers can be idiots, but that doesn't preclude slow drivers from being the same. If you aren't driving with the flow of traffic, you are the danger whether you are going 95 mph or 55 mph.
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 13, 2008 12:47 pm) |
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Replying to: lemmer (Nov 14, 2008 12:46 pm) "The slow and backwards will keep right or wish they had.
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 14, 2008 12:53 pm)
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 14, 2008 12:08 pm) Age is certainly not a determinant of wisdom...plenty of dopey aged people out there. The elderly entitlement set out there should atone for their own sins before pointing to those darn young hooligans  Going 70 isn't bold, unless you are in a Model A 
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 14, 2008 12:44 pm) 
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Nov 12, 2008 2:49 pm) Most people have figured out that, at higher speeds, vehicles do consume more gasoline. If they choose not to act on this information, that is their concern, not mine. The most productive approach to this sort of question is to not confuse individual whining with a need for a new law. cdn_tch: Pleasure, yes, I'll agree with that; Convenience, doubtful; Extra safety, no, speed increases risk We've been through this before; on limited access highways, higher speeds do no correlate to increased risk, and, if anything, faster drivers are safer than slower drivers. Unless we believe that a very limited number of accidents involving drivers who are not necessarily representative of every driver somehow "prove" otherwise. If speed increased risk, then the death rate per 100 million miles would be skyrocketing; it is not. It is declining, even though people are driving at higher speeds, and have been for several years now. If you doubt this, you are welcome to accompany me on our next trip, which will involve various interstates in Pennsylvania, so that you will become better informed. cdn_tch: Comparing 10 mph to 70 mph in this discussion is irrelevant. It's absolutely relevant, because it shows that more pollutants are emitted at lower speeds, which are more prevelant during stop-and-go driving. If you are really concerned about decreasing pollution, you would be advocating steps to ensure the smooth flow of traffic, not requiring everyone to obey an arbitrary, counterproductive and artificially low speed limit on limited access highways. cdn_tch: What are the stats on 60 vs 70 vs 80 mph? Also where is the information from? Please provide a link so we can all learn. The increase is negligible for volatile organic compounds (VOCs); it is higher for nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide (from 60-70 mph). The information can be found here: http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/smog-cars/doe-veh-pollutants.pdf. Today's vehicles are, if anything, even cleaner than their earlier counterparts. (Note, for example, that for newer vehicles, the increase in pollutants at higher speeds is smaller.) Reducing speeds on limited access highways to reduce air pollution would be even more of a waste of time. cdn_tch: With 3 Trillion vehicle miles driven, the increase ends up being substantial. You are making the same mistake that you accused that public service message on the billboard of making. So all three trillion of those vehicle miles are at 75 mph on limited access highways? Do you really believe this? The simple fact is that if you want to control pollution, you will, a. target clunkers that generate the most serious pollution, and b. do as much as possible to eliminate stop-and-go driving. cdn_tch: Yes, unregulated gasoline powered engines do pollute more but that does not make it OK to pollute more with a car. Except that the intelligent approach to solving these problems requires wisely targeting sources that will give the most bang for the buck. Given how remarkably clean new vehicles are - a brand-new Ford Explorer emits fewer pollutants running than a brand-new 1969 Ford Galaxie emitted while standing still, with the engine shut off - it is a waste to time to worry about the very small increase in emissions generated by people driving 75 mph as opposed to 55 mph (if such an increase even exists with new vehicles). Especially since history has shown that people do not slow down for artificially low speed limits on limited access highways anyway, unless we post a police officer at virtually every mile of interstate highway, thus resulting in a serious misallocation of police resources to enforce a dumb, misguided law. The most productive - not to mention the informed - approach is not to pass the dumb law in the first place.
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 13, 2008 11:21 am) I've heard that once you exceed 80 mph, the evil flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz will descend on your car and flip it over.
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Replying to: lemmer (Nov 14, 2008 12:57 pm) When all who just follow the law, including the speed limit, submit to the law, it would be easier, but there are a minority of self consecrated posers who for who knows why, feel they are above the law and regard law enforcement officers as "Revenuers", senior citizens not as worthy to share the road with, & pride themselves with being "precise" as they weave back and forth down I 5. They blame their act of road rage on other drivers that they don't like, not understanding they make the choice to react in rage. |
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 14, 2008 5:18 pm) Seems one side is at best no more free from sin than the other... I think the slowpokes get road rage just as much as the speed demons. They'll camp out in the left lane for awhile, then get all upset when someone tailgates/flashes/flips them etc. I have no problem sharing the road with oldsters, assuming they can grasp lane discipline, and cops are awesome when they speedtrap dangerous areas instead of how they do it here - cherrypicking the inattentive on a wide open 30mph road that should be 40mph, while bandits race up my 30mph street at 80mph every night, without a revenuer (ummm...cop) in sight. |
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