Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

[MassNole]

I know this thread is borderline political, so my apologies if it crosses the line.

In the 1970's when there was an oil crisis Congress stepped in and lowered the speed limit nationally to 55 mph. In theory cars operate at their best between 30-60 mph and once you get over 65 your gas mileage absolutely plummets. If we are forced to slow down we would use less gas, thus relieving demand and according to one report I saw it could have up to a 10% impact on the price per gallon (38-40 cents/gallon).

Constitutionally speaking this could be done by threatening to remove highway funds (this is why the drinking age is 21).

Personally I would be in favor of enhanced speeding tickets for those with vehicles that could be classified as gas guzzlers (SUV's, Trucks, sports cars, etc) and use the funds to set up programs for low income people to use to get fuel assistance or to help fund the fuel costs for public transportation.

So what do you think, good idea? Bad idea? Good idea but cops will never actually enforce it?

[boomhauertjs]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

Lowering the speed limit punishes everyone, while taxing gas guzzlers only punishes those who choose to buy them. I'd spend that money on alternative fuel research instead of subsidizing the poor.

[MassNole]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

How does lowering the speed limit really punish people though? Sure it may extend a commute a little bit, but with the financial impact it would have the increased commutes would be a small price to pay. I too would like to see more money go towards alternative fuel development and if I had my way I would make the tax breaks oil companies get be dependent on producing a completely viable alternative within the next few years. More so, oil probably should be regulated the way other utilities are regulated.

[Rainey]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

Had to go to no on this. There are many other ways we should look into to fix rising gas cost. A simple government mandate with appropiate tax breaks for automobile companies to make vehicles more gas efficient without significant rises in cost would be one of the better ideas.

[fistofrage]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

I know this thread is borderline political, so my apologies if it crosses the line.

In the 1970's when there was an oil crisis Congress stepped in and lowered the speed limit nationally to 55 mph. In theory cars operate at their best between 30-60 mph and once you get over 65 your gas mileage absolutely plummets. If we are forced to slow down we would use less gas, thus relieving demand and according to one report I saw it could have up to a 10% impact on the price per gallon (38-40 cents/gallon).

Constitutionally speaking this could be done by threatening to remove highway funds (this is why the drinking age is 21).

Personally I would be in favor of enhanced speeding tickets for those with vehicles that could be classified as gas guzzlers (SUV's, Trucks, sports cars, etc) and use the funds to set up programs for low income people to use to get fuel assistance or to help fund the fuel costs for public transportation.

So what do you think, good idea? Bad idea? Good idea but cops will never actually enforce it?

Subsidizing everything is just creating problems. This is economics at its simplist form, let the market play out. Soon enough alternative energy will be a necessity. Bottom line, oil is still the most cost efficient form of energy. As soon as someone can turn large scale profits with alternative energy we will have it.

The other side of the coin is that in 50 years or so, we'll be forced into socialism as population grows and resources including food and jobs(because of technology) become more scarce. So you could embrace it now.

[ZB9]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

HELL no. All of the little towns around here would have a field day. They already give out speeding tickets like they are going out of style. A law had to be passed in some of these little towns that a town cant have more than something like 32 percent of their budget from speeding tickets.

lowering the speed limit would be a terrible thing here...too much wide open road

[aukevin]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

Had to go to no on this. There are many other ways we should look into to fix rising gas cost. A simple government mandate with appropiate tax breaks for automobile companies to make vehicles more gas efficient without significant rises in cost would be one of the better ideas.

There is no gas shortage man. It's all fake. The oil companies control everything. Like there is this guy that invented this car and it runs on water man. It's got a fiberglass air-cooled engine and it runs on water.

[Cebby]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

There is no gas shortage man. It's all fake. The oil companies control everything. Like there is this guy that invented this car and it runs on water man. It's got a fiberglass air-cooled engine and it runs on water.

*throws chips*

[MassNole]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

Rocky Mountial Oil Journal

Apparently there may be a huge oil deposit in North Dakota (another article suggested more than is in Saudi Arabia). I would hope if this is true not a single drop of that oil ever leaves the United States.

[Cebby]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

I would hope if this is true not a single drop of that oil ever leaves the United States.

More than likely a single drop won't leave the ground.

The oil shortage is a possibility (if not a certainty if given enough time), but it's hardly the dire situation it's made out to be. Between the Dakota finding and the 2 in Brazil, we aren't going to run out of oil by next year.

As the nuclear power plant regulations should have made painfully obvious, it's best to not make a bunch of regulatory laws when dealing with energy.

[ZB9]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

There is no gas shortage man. It's all fake. The oil companies control everything. Like there is this guy that invented this car and it runs on water man. It's got a fiberglass air-cooled engine and it runs on water.

do you think world demand is increasing or decreasing?...At the same time, do you think all of the restrictions in this country is decreasing supply from our domestic oil companies?

of course there are a million factors (value of the US dollar, oil futures trading, unstable world events, etc..), but good old fashioned supply and demand is absolutely a main factor. We dont have a shortage right now, but oil is not a renewable resource, and demand is doing nothing but increasing...so a shortage is inevitable.

btw, domestic oil companies do not control everything, and they are not the enemy. While the government talks, Oil companies actually work and increase supply. Getting "tough" on them, and adding more restrictions for them (environmental or not) is not the way to increase supply, or lessen the dependence on foreign oil.

we cant be environmentally responsible, AND have cheap gas. We cant have it both ways right now. Folks dont even want to let people drill in Anwar, or even much in the Gulf of Mexico, etc. Yet, many of the same people complaining about drilling act like it's their God given right to have cheap gas lol.

another btw, the government could lower the price immediately quite a bit if they lessened the size of their pie and lowered their federal gas tax...but of course they arent touching that. They talk and act like oil companies are the enemy, while they make money from the people they are criticizing...but most of the people in govt talking dont actually do crap. Most of them act like they have no idea about energy...and it's been getting worse since '06.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

I'll take time over money. You drop a 65 or a 70 mile speed limit down to 55, your costing people 10-15 minutes a day, hours a week and days a year by doing this.

15 minutes a day= 1 hour 15 minutes a week = 2.7 days a year.

Time is precious for me.

[ManiacMatt1782]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

PA's speed limit is already 55 on most major highways. the turnpike is the only area where its 65. I could care less seeing as it wouldn't affect me 1 bit. I do think that we need to start mass converting cars and gas stations to hydrogen fuel. It will burn much cleaner and comes from the most abundant, and a renewable resource, water. That would work more effectively than loweing the speed limit. all that does is line the gov't pockets with fine money.

[Cebby]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

let me ask you, do you think world demand is increasing or decreasing?...At the same time, do you think all of the restrictions in this country is decreasing supply from our domestic oil companies?

You've never seen That 70s show?

I do think that we need to start mass converting cars and gas stations to hydrogen fuel. It will burn much cleaner and comes from the most abundant, and a renewable resource, water.

Eventually, people will. But at this point, extracting the hydrogen uses more energy than the hydrogen it produces. Until we get a better way of obtaining hydrogen, it's not feasible.

[bkfount]

Re: Should the Speed Limit be lowered to 55 again?

lowering the speed limit is a band aid. It isn't a serious solution to anything, and makes the situation look worse than it is, in addition to doing little while appearing to do alot. There's no more of an oil shortage than there was before, there's just a rise in demand in what OPEC provides, causing prices to rise. We're competing for foreign oil with india and china more recently.

Americans can still afford to pay $4.00, or do so by making a few sacrifices like skipping mcdonalds or that $7 movie. The market prices will cause people to make necessary changes if they need to. Start carpooling, ditch the SUV, drive slower, etc. A blanket policy to cover everyone doesn't take many things into consideration.

We have to start spending more money on finding ways to become more self sufficient with our own supply of energy, rather than spending money to enforce a nationwide 55 mph speed limit.