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Re: Writing a Speech for raising 55mph to 65mph..



In article <bob-0405951221320001@ethernet1293.sonoma.edu> bob@cs.sonoma.edu (Robert G. Plantz) writes:
>From: bob@cs.sonoma.edu (Robert G. Plantz)
>Subject: Re: Writing a Speech for raising 55mph to 65mph..
>Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 12:21:32 -0800

>In article <gribble.477.018444A8@primenet.com>, gribble@primenet.com wrote:

>> >I'm in a speech class and need to argue raising the national speed limit 
>> >to 65mph.  What I need specifically:
>> >1.  Statistics on the death rates of states that have raised their 55 to 65
>> >2.  Fuel consumption statistics (if any)
>> >3.  Anything else anyone has to say that could help me.
>> 
>> You might compare the "lost" life due to accidents versus the "gained" life 
>> due to people getting where they are going sooner and not wasting their time 
>> draggin ass at 55.  The 55 limit has wasted an enormous amount of
>peoples time.

>I don't like the 55 MPH speed limit, but let's look at some numbers. I
>think the average mileage is about 15,000 per year. Let's assume that
>10,000 of those are at the prevailing speed limit. At 55 MPH that would
>take 181.8 hours, and at 65 MPH it would take 153.8 hours, for a savings
>of 28 hours per year. I'm a little hesitant to call an average savings
>of 4.6 minutes a day "an enormous amount of peoples (sic) time."

>Bob

You stopped too soon.  28 hours at an average cost of time of $10 per hour for 
365 days per year for 100,000,000 people (about 40% of the population) sums to 
a waste of $28 BILLION.  There are about 50,000 fatalities a year and even if 
a wildly overstated estimate of decreased accidents of 10% is used that's a 
reduction of 5000 fatals.  Just to come even you would have to value each 
fatal at $5.6 million which is about 4 times what is usually used if memory 
serves.  If you use any kind of reasonable estimates for these figures I don't 
see anyway to avoid the conclusion that the 55 limit is a horrendous waste of 
time/money with insufficent offsetting savings of life.  Unless you belong to 
the school of thought that goes "if it saves one life it's worth it" the 
numbers just don't support the 55.


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