[cowuvula]

It will not work, this idea to lower the speed limit to 55.

If you raise it to 100, you decrease the population. very few survivors at a 100 mph wreck.

Also rRemember, any gas we conserve will immediately be bought by China and india and burned their auto's we are in SHORTAGE this will not help anything..

regardless, by 2015 you wont have to worry about it.

[The_Virginian]

[video width=425 height=355]http://www.youtube.com/v/MiVfaTJUZXU&hl=en[/video]

[Edited by TWilliam. Please refrain from posting Youtube videos by embedding the website. Many visitors are on dialup connections, and the autoplaying of the video can cause them problems. Please use the 'Embed Video' button instead (it looks like this ---> ). I've posted instructions for how to do this here for anyone interested. Thanks!]

[Prince]

I'll take an educated guess and say that most of the driving people do these days on freeways is during rush hour where they're sitting in a moving parking lot going 10-20 mph. It wasn't this bad back in the 70s. Reducing the speed limit, therefore, will have negligible effects on gas mileage. Also, cars are more efficient now than they were 35 years ago. My car gets nearly the same mileage going 60 as it does going 80. It gets much lower mileage when sitting in stop-and-go, however.

[Plantagenet]

Enjoy playing "speed racer" while you can.



Everybody is making predictions.

I predict President Obama will issue an executive order to drop the speed limit down to 55 mph sometime in 2009.

[lawnchair]

It wouldn't directly save gasoline, but what I'd really *love* to see is very laxly regulated freeway speeds, but substantially lower 2-lane road speeds (40-45 if no shoulder, 55 if there is a 3-foot-plus paved shoulder), and to see them *strictly* enforced. This would make cycling, driving low-power electric cars, and hypermiling much safer and more attractive alternatives.

[hubbertspeak7777777]

And people will continue to ignore the speed limit, anyways... so I guess it doesn't really matter.

In Michigan, you get pulled over for everything BUT speeding. I see people fly by doing over 100 all the time on the expressway and the chips usually do nothing. In Michigan you can speed as much as you want, but if you roll through a stop sign, forget to wear a seat belt, litter, or forget to turn on your blinker... then you'll be $100 poorer. Weird, eh?

Btw, I hate people who drive 55 on the expressway. Nothing makes a long trip even more unendurable than a slow driver. I say people should be pulled over for going to slow. First offense they get a $100 fine, second offense... $500, third offense... their license is restricted and they're only allowed to drive a moped or a horse and buggy. Also they are banned from driving on the expressway for life. They can ride with someone else, but they are never allowed to drive.

And no, I won't be one of those people bitching about high gas prices and not being able to drive. I don't really like driving that much, so I won't really care. But if there's one thing that pisses me off it's slow drivers. Driving is a big enough pain in the ass as it is, but slow driving makes it that much more unbearble.

[dinopello]

I don't really like that idea. I drive about 3 to 5 thousand miles a year and I like to get them over with as quickly as possible.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I') don't really like that idea. I drive about 3 to 5 thousand miles a year and I like to get them over with as quickly as possible.

[The_Virginian]

Eco-fascist!

Let people pay market price for petrol, that will determine who will drive, and how.

Conservation, or lame attempts at such, is not going to make Peak Oil any more bearable...

It's not about running out of oil, it's about running out of CHEAP OIL.

Let's see some more 1.5 liter turbo diesels or Electric cars....not some Bung-holes idea of People Control.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I') don't really like that idea. I drive about 3 to 5 thousand miles a year and I like to get them over with as quickly as possible.

[arretium]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('arretium', '
')
Think about this for a second. I've been a member of this website for years. Do you really think I'm going around and personally complaining about the high price of gasoline given what I know and believe about Peak Oil? Gas is cheaper than a gallon of Starbucks Coffee/Latte, Red Hook Beer, Milk, and Coca-Cola.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('arretium', '#')2 - These embedded videos need to end.

[FloridaGirl]

I'd vote for a nation-wide speed limit of 55 mph. It did make a huge difference in the 70's. It's like immediately finding a huge stash of oil. There's a big difference in wind-resistance between 55 and 70 (non-linear) and so 55 is much more efficient in general.

I think it is a lame (and selfish) argument to say that if we don't use it, then someone else will. China uses a fraction of the energy per person compared to Americans. And how much of that energy comes back to us in the form of goods we buy from China. We are leaders in the wrong direction (high energy consumption). We need to change and become leaders on the path to lower energy consumption. We're going to have to do it anyway so it's better if we powerdown gracefully on our own terms. Also, I consider that any energy not wasted now will be available to us later when it is a rare and precious commodity.

If you don't want China to buy more energy, then don't buy their stuff.

Yesterday was Memorial Day and I was thinking about the sacrifices our brave soldiers were making in Iraq, all just to support our energy addiction. They are sacrificing their time away from their families to live in a miserable place. They are sacrificing their lives and limbs and sometimes their sanity. Well, what kind of sacrifice would Americans be willing to make to save the soldiers from making their much higher sacrifices? Is driving 55 too much of a sacrifice to make to save the soldiers from their sacrifices? Is car-pooling too much of a sacrifice in that light?

I think that most Americans would be quite willing to make those sacrifices if you put it that way.

[lawnchair]

Another theory holds that a strictly enforced speed limit might make passenger rail comparatively more attractive. But, between commonly driven city pairs (Dallas-Houston, Chicago-Minneapolis, Toronto-Montreal) the difference between 55 and 70 isn't much more than an hour, which is not nearly the time hassle of getting to a central station, waiting on a train, and getting to a destination from your debarking station.

[arretium]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FloridaGirl', '
')I think it is a lame (and selfish) argument to say that if we don't use it, then someone else will. China uses a fraction of the energy per person compared to Americans. And how much of that energy comes back to us in the form of goods we buy from China. We are leaders in the wrong direction (high energy consumption). We need to change and become leaders on the path to lower energy consumption. We're going to have to do it anyway so it's better if we powerdown gracefully on our own terms. Also, I consider that any energy not wasted now will be available to us later when it is a rare and precious commodity.

[arretium]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lawnchair', 'A')nother theory holds that a strictly enforced speed limit might make passenger rail comparatively more attractive. But, between commonly driven city pairs (Dallas-Houston, Chicago-Minneapolis, Toronto-Montreal) the difference between 55 and 70 isn't much more than an hour, which is not nearly the time hassle of getting to a central station, waiting on a train, and getting to a destination from your debarking station.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FloridaGirl', '
')Is driving 55 too much of a sacrifice to make to save the soldiers from their sacrifices?

[cowuvula]

I gave up on the "fixing it" mentality. The whole system is so screwed up that there is no way it is going to come out of this one.

I drive 130 miles to work every day and it costs me 9 dollars. I would do it if it cost me 400 dollars. so gas can go to, lets see, 100 dollars a gallon I'd still drive to work, if work will still exists when gas goes that high.

I used to live 7 miles from work in the city, but now I live in a totally safe zone and will survive any nuclear assault they can throw at us and am fully independant on food.

well worth it.

[cowuvula]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Virginian', 'E')co-fascist!

Let people pay market price for petrol, that will determine who will drive, and how.

Conservation, or lame attempts at such, is not going to make Peak Oil any more bearable...

It's not about running out of oil, it's about running out of CHEAP OIL.

Let's see some more 1.5 liter turbo diesels or Electric cars....not some Bung-holes idea of People Control.

[lawnchair]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('arretium', '
')What's the energy use for high speed trains? I bet Montequest would know..........