A national speed limit of 55 MPH?

2% year after year would help.

The government (or a non-profit organization) should ask the people of American for help. Create a 55 mph campaign geared to reduce our fossil fuel dependency. A campaign much like the scrap drives of World War II, but without the logistics problem and leftover scrap. It would be a morale builder, a uniter and maybe shame the gas guzzlers by labeling them as unpatriotic.

If they are going to raise gas prices above our head's, let us decide how we want to use the "gold" we purchase for our own cars. If this passes across the board, we can expect more rulings that will have the government taking even more control of our choices. STAND UP!!!

Make the maximum speed limit 45 MPH for all cars that get fewer then 35 MPG and allow automobiles that get better MPG or are electric to drive at existing speeds.

A lot of folks seem pretty upset by the idea of slowing down. I agree that much bigger changes - hybrids, alternative fuels, mass transit, sprawl reduction, and more - are needed. But, along the way every incremental change will help reduce our oil usage and begin to change the consciousness of the American people. I share the concern that people might say "OK, we're driving slower, we're done."

So, let's puch hard for the bigger changes that are needed, But, in the mean time, let's take all the improvements we can. We might even relearn the pleasantness of slowing down a little.

jeremyk is right. I drive 55 on my way to work in my 2006 VW Diesel Jetta. I am averaging about 45mpg these days, up from a 40 to 42mpg average. I have adopted some Hypermiling techniques, like switing the engine off at stop lights and in drive thrus.

Regardless, at 60mph I get 49.7mpg out of my car on long distance (reads leave central NC and drive to the mississippi river across TN on a single tank of fuel--14.2 gallons--732 miles) -- lowering to 55 I should see a 5% increase. That pushes my car into the 50+ mpg range.

Not everyone has as efficient a vehicle, but your also not yet paying $5 a gallon. Those of us who know the answer to this crisis is to switch to another fuel are alrady paying premiums to try and save our economy.

If the oil companies are reading this, and they see that their high oil prices aren't even causing you to slow down to save 10% on your gas bills, then why would they EVER lower the prices. It's just basic economics.

I've been driving slower for months now, and it will allow me to get my stupid ass Trailblazer to go an extra 40 miles per tank. Which is basically the same as getting an extra 5 miles per gallon. Or....the same as the price of gas being about $0.25/gallon cheaper. Are you bitchin' about high gas prices?! Be a man (or woman) and slow the F down. It's the same damn thing as cheaper gas prices, it'll only cost you a minute or two more to get where you are going. Trust me it sucks, I love to drive fast just like everyone else. But I'm willing to make the sacrifice so I have that extra $25 a week, rather than giving it to Exxon or Shell.

Here we go again... it was stupid then and it is just as stupid now...

Again they invent some other shit theory,"nation speed limit 55", What trash is this. These people really think the America people is stupid. I think we as peolpe should strom the Capital for this insult to our intelligence. These fools don't know that its the type of vehicles which determine the output of gas. Old models vs new ones. trucks vs cars. I seriously don't believe them...... Gas is not going down anytime soon and the little man as no control over it. The solution I would give to this matter is to cut the amount of cars on the road and by so doing elimating the hours you and I spend in traffic everyday wasting gas when we could be drive smoothly...

A national speed limit of 55mph is a total waist of time and money. For the miserable 2% of oil that it would save, wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost to re-do all the highway signs nationwide. And yes, the cops in all 50 states would go crazy writing all those extra speeding tickets. But then all the state and local police Dept's would say they need extra officers to enforce the new speed limit. So the states, counties, and towns would have to take on the extra cost of hiring more police. In the long run, this law wouldn't save the US tax payer a dime!

Repugnants...these are their revolutionarry ideas! They know legislatures would love this due to all of the speed traps they could set and drive revenue through cops. This would also make more traffic jams.

Why is this really such a bad idea?

I thinks it a great plan that could actually get passed into law that'll offer immediate results. Without a doubt, it's not any sort of final end all solution. and yes...I'd love to be able to afford a Prius and get 50% better gas milage. and yes...we do need to stop our dependance on oil. But, in this real world we live in, the government can't just stop buying oil from the Saudi's, and they sure as hell aren't going to help me buy a new car.

If slowing down will help reduce our national demand enough to not need us to drill for oil in Alaska, or to reduce even a drop of the oil we need to buy from people who hate us, then why not make that sacrifice. This is a cheap, easy, and immediate solution that makes a lot of logical sense if you think about it for even two seconds. Maybe not reducing it to 55, maybe 60 or 65 or whatever the most efficient speed would be for modern cars. But it makes sense.

Don't you get sick of crying about the government not fixing the problems? Why not take charge and do the simple things right now.

Besides the obvious environmental reasons, safety should also be addressed.

As a victim of a horrible high speed auto accident,
I am in favor of low speeds. There is no reason, ever, to drive a car faster than 50 mph! Also, there is no reason to make cars/engines with the ability to go 120 mph!

Slow down, or... turn cars into weapons!

Not it will not.

Use less oil and the price will go down!!!

Fuck that shit...they need to lower oil prices.

The biggest difference between a speed limit of 55 and 70 is the number of speeding tickets the state police get to write.

Nobody really slows down.

WoW!?.

Or maybe improve the Corporate Average Fuel Economy when we get a new president.

Been there, done that and it solved nothing. History. Read it more often. Duh Senator. Duh.

hrm...dropping it to 55, that would suck. My car is in 4th gear at that time, and if I go up to 5th I'm at 1,200RMPs and feeling like the cars going to die. Leaving me at 55 would suck and be hard on both my engine and transmission.

Now, everyone talks about electric cars. Sadly, they are they way of the future. However, I'm a performance guy and enjoy putting the "pedal to the metal" at times and, unfortunately, an electric car will never be there.

"But they get better gas mileage!" Doubt it. I am getting 43 highway miles per gallon and about 38 mixed highway/city. With about 3 grand into the car, I can be at about 45 mixed and still be pushing 280 BHP. So that argument is dead.

BTW, I drive a PZEV, which is exactly where electric cars are, too.

Heck, I like driving fast as much as the next chick, but the roads have seen me cruisin' around Granny style as gas prices steadily soared over the last year or two. Unfortunately I live in LA, where a car is pretty much vital, and I'm yearning for a city filled with bicycles and walk streets. I think we need to completely rethink the way our cities are planned, particularly those dependent on cars like LA.

Could a national "Don't Drive Day" be in the making?
That'd shake things up.

how about we try decreasing our reliance on oil first? as a st. louisan, an imposed 55mph speed limit would reap havoc on weekend trips to kansas city, memphis, and chicago.

It figures that someone back east would come up with this. A 55 MPH speed limit in Northern Virginia for commuting in the DC area, but try it in the southwest, where towns are hundreds of miles apart. When they FINALLY dumped the Carter-era 55 MPH limits, the drive between Albuquerque and Denver dropped from nine hours (plus meal/gas stops) to a bit over seven. Just Albuquuerque (our largest city) to Santa Fe (our state capitol) went from nearly two hours to about 75 minutes. Senator Warner... shove it!

Instead, why not:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Story?id=1062131&page=1

I'm down for it. I toke everyday, so I'm always cruising.

I hate how instead of switching to an alternate source of energy (Electric Car *ahem*) we suffer ridiculous punishment from using oil. High prices, High Emissions, and stupid laws to 'help' the problem not solve it.

Sammy Hagar is all for it!

More reason to get on a bike. Kudos to the first person to break 55 on one.

I'd rather see a resolution for an increase in wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal tax credits. Florida is fresh out of tax credits for solar power. They have all been used for this year and are no longer available and people are on a waiting list to get them. As i was told yesterday, not sure and certainly hope it isn't true. It should be unlimited an encouraged nationally.

Highway speed limit? Whats that? Does anyone actually follow it?

Another ridiculous idea. What a miserable drop in the bucket this would be. People who are proposing such eeny-ass ideas are the ones who are too chickenshit to step up and make the hard decisions toward a paradigm shift in the way we use energy in this country. It's just a distraction from the issues we really need to be talking about.

BTW, average gas price in my city is $4.38.