nickel

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/69045.htm

what do you think? good idea to help us save gas or not acceptable to make us spend more time to get from point A to point B.

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Airencracken

It's a great idea to save gas.

It's also not going to happen.

Even if the speed limit is reduced, most people (as they do now) will continue to speed over the limit.

Maybe she wants the extra revenue from scam er.. speeding tickets?

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KIISQueen

Yes it is good to save on gas but damn that is slow!!!

Airencracken

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starkiis

55 like thats gonna happen even with speed limits 65 most people are going 80

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InfiniteNothing

I think we should split every freeway into 2. The 55 mph freeway and the 90 mph freeway. Sometimes money is important, sometimes time is money.

hapoo

and sometimes granny likes to go 45 in the 90 lane with her blinker still going strong.

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Memo

They did this in Houston a few years ago. Everyone still drove WAY over to the point where they had to switch the speed limits back.

Houdini

Gimme a break. With many modern cars capable of 100+ without much more consumption than 70, I wouldn't worry about the difference. Yeah, compound a little and you get a lot, but I doubt if 55 will ever fly. Especially now that the states have control over speed limits.

MikeD

Is it really going to save that much? Nah...

Sounds like someone wanted to get back in the news.

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Markel

If you see this enacted (which I doubt will happen), buy stock in the companies that produce CB radios. I remember when the 55 limit was imposed in the 70s. Within a few years, having a CB radio on the highway was the norm.

Back then, some were arguing that the 55 limit saved lives. There was an article in Car & Driver where the author showed how many man-years were lost due to increased driving times. The "lives" lost due to slower driving far surpassed the lives that were statistically saved due to slower speeds.

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OC

How about we just enforce existing speed limit laws, hmm?

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Airencracken

actually high speed limits save lives. There are more deaths perhaps, but less deaths per mile traveled.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...02/MN65128.DTL

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/lyingwsc.html

http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/bg532.cfm

InfiniteNothing

It actually will. But I think saving money should be voluntary (though maybe incentivized) Maybe we can give out tax rebates for installing speed limiters.

clutchy

i'm with you man, the companies have been engineering their cars for higher speeds for a while now.

my dads 535 gets about 35 mpg at 80, my mother in laws camry gets about 37 at 80. I've noticed both of those cars do worse at 55 or slower.

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attgig

i find that hard to believe that you'll get worse mileage at 55...especially with the camry.

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clutchy

it bogs down...

cheapie

what? i'm calling shens!

my van gets about 28 mpg at 55-60 but only 21 at 70+

MikeD

Maybe because they're intentionally set too low. Yeah, go ahead and enforce if first jack them up a bit.

Houdini

I would say that speed isn't the problem, but bad drivers are the problem. Some idiot in a 1984 Toyota who tries to drive 80-100+ on the interstate is in a lot of danger. Even with a skilled driver, the car can't handle well at high speeds.

Anyone have stats on deaths in Germany/Austria on speed-limited sections of the Autobahns vs. speed-unlimited sections? At least there, they HEAVILY enforce the "stay in right unless passing rule," so you don't have someone trying to "teach you a lesson" or to drive next to you, which IMHO is about the most dangerous thing to do on a road at high speed - having someone pace you in the lane next to you, as it severely limits your options if something unfriendly comes up on the road ahead.

Also in the Teutonic courtries, tailgaiting will get you an ungodly ticket. They're not really concerned overall about speed, but safety and common sense. Don't tailgate, be polite, don't pace people, etc. Then again, the aformentioned 1984 whatever car wouldn't fly there unless it is kept up. There are so many standards that cars have to pass to be "road worthy." Here we have to prove our lights and windshield wipers work. Some states have smog checks. Some cities have noise limits. But in Germany, a little too much rust or a burned out bulb can make your car unworthy. That's why many Euro companies put in redundant bulbs and circuits.

So, I don't believe speed is the problem re: safety. Sure, you burn more gas, and likely pollute more, but you also spend less time on the road getting where you're going. So is it a trade-off?

SecretIkon

Yeah, its good to save money. But people will not obey the speedlimit, regardless. The limit is already 65mph and people are going 80-85mph. So if the speedlimit was 55mph wouldn't people be speed more then? Double the trouble IMO.

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guiseppewv

<cough> Bull$hit <cough, cough>

No way a car like a Camry gets better fuel mileage at 80 than at 55. I don't believe that a Bimmer would get better fuel efficency at 80 either.




I think speeding tickets = scam for revenue 90% of the time.

gwilks98

I dunno much about cars, but a guy on this site
said this:

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InfiniteNothing

That just doesn't jive with physics. The overdrive gear can be used both at 55 and at 65.
Physics

LPMiller

most cars get better gas between 70 and 80 because that's where they hit the sweet spot on the engine. Usually right around 3,000 RPM's. I always get better MPG when I can do 70.

55 worked when people were buying chevettes and fiestas and pintos, back when 4 banger was a real insult. But engines today are much, much better then back in the 70's.

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cheapie

what? where did you hear that most get better mpg at 70-80? i really doubt that's the case, esp since when you get about a certain speed your car is working harder to push through the air than it is to maintain forward motion.

InfiniteNothing

If 3K were the sweet spot then one would only have to shift into n-1 gear and drive slower so that axle, tire, air, etc friction are reduced. Again, the physics just don't support 70+ mph being optimal

clutchy

right, except that your engine bogs down because the gears are too low, especially in a 4 cylinder. It just doesn't have enough power to push through that gear at X speed.


i could probably buy into cars getting better mileage at 65-75, but no slower than that. The engines get more efficient at certain rpm's and cars are pretty aerodynamic anyway, much moreso than bikes...

cheapie

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story....=&aff=national

InfiniteNothing

See post one up from quoted (or the one above this one)