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| No | 67% | 222 votes | Total: 333 votes | |
| Yes | 33% | 111 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThe topic of 55 mile an hour speed limits has pissed me off since I was a kid. I don't want some scientist who's never left the lab telling me I could increase my fuel mileage by a couple miles to the gallon by driving 55 instead of 65.
If you ask me all states should change the daytime speed limit to none, following in the foot steps of Montana. There accident rating actually went down when they switched to this. I've driven cross country from California to Wisconsin, and let me tell you it's a long slow drive. Sure you can make it faster if you speed, but who wants to get caught and have to pay a fine? They're not cheap.
Why have we done nothing to get away from fossil fuels? That is the real issue here. If we were all running our cars on renewable resources do you think anyone would care about the mileage? Instead of complaining for decades about us using to much to fast, why haven't we replaced it? Why did we allow the crushing of the electric car in 1990? Why haven't we been using generators in cars for decades? We've been using them in construction for years and had the technology but chose not to use them.
Why have we built a society that strayed from self reliance and farming to meaningless jobs that produce nothing in a virtual online world? If we all farmed and bartered we wouldn't be traveling so much and consuming so much fuel. Bottom line is that society has a napoleon complex and always has to over compensate for their feelings of inadequacies. We could solve this problem without changing the speed limit to a snail crawl of 55 and still using fossil fuels, stop living beyond our needs.
It all boils down to greed people. We don't need to have that big house that requires us to drive to the big city every day just to pay for it. We don't need that big screen television that keeps us from paying attention to loved ones. We need to work at home or close to home. Then we will not rely so much on fossil fuels and the speed limit will not be an issue anymore. Don't change our speed limits unless your ready to let me go faster. I can't waste any more time going so slow. I want to get there and now.
Learn more about this author, Bob Zimmerman.
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Yes
I find it amazing that rolling the speed limit back to 55mph would have many detractors. On an individual (selfish) level, I can understand people complaining about having to drive slower. Most of the arguments would probably focus on having their rights trampled, and having commuting times increased. These are both true to some extent, but sometimes it is necessary to make sacrifices. Rolling back the speed limit to 55mph is a perect example.
The way I see it, the speed limit should be rolled back for three reasons. First, it would reduce fatalities. Second, it would decrease fuel consumption. Third, under the right circumstances, it would be good for national security. The last one probably seems odd, but read on and it will make sense.
The first reason to reduce the speed limit is to reduce fatalities. This is clear-cut and obvious to me. If you have ever taken a physics class, you may know that force is equal to mass times acceleration (F=MA). Basically, multiply the weight of an automobile by it's acceleration, and you get the force. Assuming the weight of the car is constant, increasing the acceleration increases the force when it hits something. If you hit something harder, you do more damage. It seems pretty simple to me, not to mention that increased speeds leave you less time to react in a dangerous situation.
The next reason to reduce the speed limit is the reduction in fuel consumption. Driving fast uses more gas, so slowing down would help conserve fuel. Conserving fuel means we use less, which means our demand for fuel will decrease. If the supply stays constant, the price will decrease. You save money, companies save money, and everyone is happy!
The last major reason focuses on national security. I know that this may be a leap to some of you, but read this with an open mind. Lowering the speed limit will result in us using less fuel. This alone won't ween us off foreign oil, but this move in combination with fuel efficient cars, improved mass transit, and renewable energy sources will go a long way in helping us to one day stop buying foreign oil. I know it is unlikely, but every little bit counts, and if we can someday stop relying on people who hate us to provide oil, we will be better off.
Safer roads, cheaper fuel prices, and no more foreign oil. Is adding a few minutes to your commute really that big of a deal? If it is, you can always move closer to work and save even more gas!
Learn more about this author, Damien Baldino.
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