Can’t drive 55? How about 65 instead

A trucking industry group is calling for the return of a speedier national speed limit.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Sammy Hagar’s protest ballad for speeders would need a 10-mile-per-hour update if a trucking group gets its way.

The American Trucking Associations, which represents trucking companies, is calling for the return of a uniform national speed limit, something this country hasn’t seen since the 1990s. But this time the ATA is after something a little more modest: It wants to drop the limit to 65 mph for all cars and trucks.


A national limit on speed limits, set at 55 mph, was enacted in 1974 in response to a severe oil shortage. Even after the crisis had passed, it was kept in place because of apparent safety benefits. In the mid-1980s, restrictions were loosened to allow higher speeds and the law was finally stricken altogether in 1995.

Today, states are allowed to set their own speed limits, and 31 of them have limits over 65 mph, according to a list supplied by the ATA. In Texas some highways have speed limits of 80 mph. The other 30 have limits of 70 or 75 mph on some highways.

CNN