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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
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: fast06stang (Dec 05, 2007 3:14 pm) That's for sure!!! I live in Alpine and hate driving into the city anymore. The San Diego freeway system is getting more and more like LA. Not a pleasant place to drive. I try to run all my errands and appointments between 10 & 2 PM, so I can avoid the worst of the traffic. |
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Replying to: waltchan (Dec 04, 2007 3:42 pm) Well depends on what kind of vehicle. Smaller engined vehicle are certainly more FE at this speed, but larger ones may not be. Cars with powerful diesel engines have even higher sweetspots which are close to 75 mph. > 2. We can save more than 30% of the oil supply before it is completly depleted. Mmm, I'm afraid I don't think this way will do much. This won't settle the problems of very high consumption in traffic jams that clog many higways and urban areas. Therefore, it may influence Fuel consumption only in best traffic condition, which , in many areas, are unlikely most of the time. >3. When driving 55 mph, you get to be in your car longer (assuming new) and enjoy the interior comfort around you. Plus, it's more relaxing and fun to drive, and you can multitask more easily at the same time, such as taking cell phone calls, eating snacks, writing notes, or reading papers. This is interesting that you describe this so positively, whereas this is exactly what I think should be avoided as much as possible in a moving car. This may be cultural differences, but I attribute most (yes, I say most) of the non drunk driving accidents to this kind of behaviour. 40% crash because they left the road and 60% crash with another car. In both cases, the crash happened because the driver did not care to pay attention to the rest of the trafic and its surroundings, eventually letting him/herself into a hazardous situation. My view is that drivers should concentrate on driving ONLY, as we don't get a second life. Should one want to do anything else but driving, the train is a healthy alternative. >4. It can increase the engine life of the vehicle. A small anecdote : In the country where I live, I borrowed a car for a few months. a small (1,1l) engined hatchback which had a terrible FE (22 mpg) and could not go above 75 mph. I drove it unsparingly , flooring the pedal on motorway (I was around the legal limit) and letting the engine revving in intermediate speed. Guess what? after a few month, I managed to reach 28 mpg efficiency and eventually, I could go over 90 mph on the highway. Engine was running more smoothly (but it had already 25000 miles on the clock) after that. You don't believe me ? I don't even believe it myself... but this car was runned too slow, which led the engine to get dirty and loose efficiency. I have 2 others examples but not as striking as this one. >5. It may (or may not) reduce the chance of getting into an accident. As mentioned for 3) my view is that the likeliness of an accident will increase noticeably, because a sleeping driver is not one I would bet my safety on. >Everytime I try to drive 55 mph on the highway, freeway, or expressway, people keep on honking, flash headlights I think the US are lacking lane discipline. in Europe, most slow drivers stick to the right and quicker ones pass from the left. I am convinced a lot of fuel could be saved with a more organized traffic, instead of people chasing for the quicker lane (and other blocking others) that i often saw in California. It is unacceptable, if you keep lane discipline, that other motorists behave aggressively towards yourself. Such behaviour should be fined. Otoh, if you don't, this is the result of you impeding the flow of traffic. >or pass me If you are going 55 where the flow is going 75, everyone is going to pass you. Safety distance must be respected by passing vehicules before and after passing, otherwise this is aggressove driving. If passing you safely, what's wrong with that? I want to make sure you have the right to go your pace, but I don't want your pace to be forced upon me. >However, nobody seems to take advantage at this speed. Le the administration put the gallon at 6 USD and people will decide what is best by themselves.
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Replying to: vchiu (Dec 05, 2007 7:45 pm) That is a very astute observation. I found the worst offenders in the HOV lanes. Those have limited entry and exit. The chances are good that you will get stuck behind some JERK that is not going to exceed the speed limit. So the other lanes are going by you at 70-75 MPH and you are stuck behind this imbecile doing 55 MPH. There was a big article in the LA Times about this. I guess it has gotten much worse with the advent of allowing solo drivers in hybrids to clog up the HOV lanes. |
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| The lower you make the speed limit, the more people will want to go over the speed limit. That works for a lot of things - someone tells you not to do something, and it makes you want to do it more. They don't reward you when you drive the speed limit; they only harass and fine you when you break it. And no matter how skilled you are at driving, they can always pull you over for going faster than you're "supposed to". | |
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Replying to: keepinon (Dec 05, 2007 12:34 pm) The problem with slowing down 5 MPH is that a lot of idiotic poor, unskilled, and incompetent CA drivers will decide that they still want to go 5 to 15 MPH slower than everyone else, even if everyone else is suddenly driving 5 MPH slower or 55 MPH all of a sudden. Therefore, you'll have those idiots driving 45 or so and you'll still have stress and conjestion and traffic jams. If everyone drove 55 all the time and never slowed down below that in the San Diego freeway area, then I'd actually be happy during rush hour. The problem is a few idiots can cause traffic jams (and a whole lot of wasted fuel) for thousands of others. |
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is the worst idea one could ever imagine or think of. In fact, if Hitler was still alive, it would be a MUCH better idea to vote him as President of the USA in 2008 than to lower the speed limit to 55. That's HOW BAD of an idea it is. If anything, we should mandate that States CANNOT set maximum speed limits below 80 MPH. Also, they should allow vigilante justice on slow blockers of the fast lane by allowing video tapes to suffice for fines on people blocking the fast lane at low speeds when they should be going faster. I'd love to send in video tapes to punish traffic "jammers" otherwise known as slow drivers in the fast lane in CA. Previous posts are absolutely correct about slow drivers blocking the fast lane in CA. It seems the slow pokes are as determined to block and cause traffic jams in the fast lane as fast drivers are to make the slow lane the fastest moving lane!!!! The right lane seems to always be the fastest moving lane these days in CA; no matter where you go. Shameful!
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Replying to: andres3 (Dec 05, 2007 10:16 pm) Must be time to shut this one down already. 
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Replying to: andres3 (Dec 05, 2007 10:16 pm) Somehow CA has attracted a lot of tree hugging, no nothing environmentalists. They feel they are taking the high ground by slowing down the flow of traffic. I would take their license away until they have taken a course in highway driving etiquette. I have no problem with drivers in the right lane going less than the flow of traffic for whatever the reason. They need to stay in the right lane and stay out of the left lanes and HOV lanes. I do not care if they were given an HOV pass because of a stupid law designed to encourage more hybrids. Going 55 MPH when the flow is 75 MPH is DANGEROUS to all those on the highway. GO with the flow or get OFF the highway and take a 35 MPH surface street.
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Replying to: steve_ (Dec 05, 2007 10:19 pm)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 05, 2007 10:26 pm) I think they should repeal the idea that HOV is for hybrids, it should only be for cars with more than one person in them. I think motorcycles should be banned too, unless they have 2 on the seat also. I think that Chrysler would quickly become the #1 automaker in the US if they were the first to equip their cars with dual .50 caliber machine gun turrets on the front bumper. Perfect for getting someone out of your way that is determined to block you in the fast lane and get you into going the same speed as the slow lane. Or maybe optional upgrades to rocket launchers...... I wish I had a trigger button to get trigger happy with sometimes. Reminds me of video games where you get to blow cars up while driving.... Instead of honking I want my horn to assume control of the vehicle in front of me so that I can better drive their vehicle for them directly in front of me. |
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