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Re: Repeal the 55 mph speed limit!
Bob Morrow (nma@genie.geis.com) wrote:
: The "Traffic Speed Trends" reports of the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA)
: for the years just before the 55-mph National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) may
: be of interest.
: If this sounds good to you, you need to do two things: A) Join the National Motorists Association (by calling
: 800-882-2785), which is the organization that's pushing the speed limit repeal thru Congress now, and
: B) Write your representatives in the House of Representatives to let them know that it's time to repeal the
: national maximum speed limit law.
I agree with the move to increase limits, but a note of caution.
(1) Most people want cars to go faster but to peg the speed of trucks, so
they're talking about a 75/55 split.
(2) On three-lane highways like the truck lanes of the NJ turnpike, trucks
tend to sit in the MIDDLE lane at a steady 70. If you're in the right
or middle lane in a junker doing 55, it's MEGA uncomfortable.
(3) If you want to go faster than the mean traffic rate, you have to pass
on both sides, because most drivers are too inconsiderate to pull over
to let you pass.
(4) The risks in driving increase with the differential in driving speeds,
not with speed itself.
Now, the figures you give are indeed useful. They show that a good
number (like 25%) of the driving populace would like to be doing 80+,
while the mean speed would probably be 60-65. Without a change in driving
practice as regards lane discipline, this WILL be more dangerous.
In the UK, lane discipline is strict. If you're not overtaking, stay left.
In New Jersey, the Driver's Manual states in one place that the law is
that you should keep right except to pass and in another place it says
that you can pass in any established lane (i.e. left or right). It's
chaotic. In the UK, if you want to break the law and belt along at 100+,
you can stay in the right lane, and just modulate your speed. In the US,
you're constantly changing lanes, you're passing right and left --
clearly far more dangerous.
Now I'm not advocating driving 100+ in a 55 zone, although a real high
limit would be nice :-) but the whole set of driving protocols (or lack
thereof) in the US is based on really slow driving and there ought to be
a concerted move away from speeding tickets to changing and enforcing
lane discipline, and prosecuting people who tailgate and change lanes
without signalling. These are the guys that CAUSE accidents, and it'll
happen much more if you see a 75/55 car/truck limit on the highway.
Now I like to be in a car that's capable of hauling me out of trouble in
speed, and if you post a limit at 150mph, give me a straight, quiet
stretch of desert road and I'll try pushing the mark. I like driving, as
you do, but it's got to be SAFE for EVERYBODY.
References: