Unfortunately the 200,000,000 idiots we have in the US would think that 105-115 kph was a typo for 105-115 Mph.
Or come over here to Maryland and try 65mph on I-295 between Washington, DC and the Delaware border.
Prevailing speed is 90MPH. No, I’m not kidding.
Uh…get it repainted?
Besides, where would you store the unused skins?
Seriously now, what the heck are you talking about? If you’re soo worried about the gas mileage you’re getting because you’re doing 75 and not 55, get off the freeway and take slower speed limit roads. I am a college student that has a very low income, but I still drive anywhere between 65 and 100 on a daily basis, while cruising on the freeway (and I’m driving a 2002 Chevrolet Prism, which is a twin of the the Toyota Corolla of the same year, minus the interior). But, there is no need to get the Government more involved in my personal life, especially when it comes to driving! Heck, they can’t handle the taxation system with a agency as big as the IRS (with soo much power), so what makes you think they’re gonna do any better with a speed limit? People are going to go as fast as they want to regardless what you post the speed limit! Just take that into consideration! Lastly, think of it like Marijuana! It’s illegal Nationwide and we all know nobody has it, right? Point stated and by the way, the Focus, my first car I ever owned, did just fine at much higher speeds! What kinda car have you been driving, gramps?
You know what - ultimately, it’s gonna be $100 a tank gasoline which brings more fuel efficent vehicles to market.
Speeding between 65 and 100 on a daily basis…spoken like a true immortal. Had a 2002 Chevy Prism and though capable of near 100 mph, not that safe and a threat to everyone else on the road. If you had a Vette, you’d have an arguement.
Let’s see, 55 mph is 10 under the 65 mph speed limit and 100 is 35 over…big brother should get involved in your personal life, in big way. You could get involved in a very personal way in everyone elses who is obeying the speed limit trying to get home to their family.
You have to be joking…sonny.
The Marshall Plan
OK, a good thing. Rebuild Europe so that the wounds would heal and not fester like they did after WW1. Also useful for keeping much of Europe in our orbit rather than Stalin’s.
Philippine independence
Um, 50 years late. I suppose late is better than never… we started the Spanish-American war on a terrorist pretext (sound familiar?) in order to obtain a ready-made empire by relieving Spain of hers. After telling the Filippinos (and Cubans, and Puerto Ricans, and…) how we had liberated them, we stuck around for a long time. This touched off insurgencies will are still going today. Read the history. The only reason we finally left the Philippines is that we couldn’t keep a straight face while spouting nonsense about how great we were to rule over them so benevolently.
And thats without going past 1950 !
And I suppose things got better after 1950? Red scare/support of any dictator who could pronounce “anti-communist”, Vietnam, Middle-East meddling, Cold War, Colder War, running Latin America for the benefit of United Fruit, all the way up to Bush’s Vendetta (the current Iraq war).
should we ever develop an alternative fuel that’s cheaper than their oil, they can flood the market with oil until the oil prices collapse and make the new alternative energy source uncompetitive with their oil
Maybe they used to be able to do that, but isn’t OPEC now pumping close to capacity? I don’t think they have the spare capacity any more to pull a stunt like that. Oil prices are likely to be permanently high, which is good news for alternative energy sources.
Drive 55 Conservation Project Action Plan (http://www.Drive55.org)
There are three levels of activity contemplated.
Level One is Voluntary modification of driving behavior via a public relations campaign anchored by a recognizable design on bumper stickers for motor vehicles. The stickers serve to make the driver more conscientious while informing other drivers that the vehicle is observing the 55 MPH speed limit.
Supported by a multi media campaign with messaging geared toward benefits of slowing down, the bumper stickers will create community and encourage other drivers to join the trend. Project experience has revealed that it can actually be unnerving and unsafe to drive 55 mph if others are doing 85, therefore safety will be improved by having a way to notify speeders of the drivers intention.
Level Two is Direct Regulation, first legislatively and then by law enforcement. Political will on the part of the legislature, especially by a few key leaders, is required to write new law. CHP must be provided sufficient resources if mandated to step up enforcement, however structured carefully, CHP activities will pay for themselves.
Level Three effort would combine Market Based Compliance with Direct Regulation by including taxing vehicles by horsepower vs. weight and seatbelts, carbon tax on fuels, and pollution tax on wear items such as tires and brakes.
We seek to try the easiest and lowest cost Level One effort first and propose a $1 million dollar budget to roll out an initial campaign. The budget would provide 10% for management, 40% for bumper stickers printing & distribution, and 30% for a multi media ad campaign with a 20% contingency fund.
To measure the effectiveness of the campaign will require a separate statistical analysis of historical data. Since it is a purely voluntary program it would be very difficult to quantify and is therefore outside the scope of a Level One effort. Levels Two and Three would provide useful data that could be analyzed to quantify benefits but also require more extensive planning that will be better accomplished after a level one effort has been implemented.
Cost Effectiveness Calculation and Assumptions
To calculate the cost effectiveness of the Voluntary campaign one simple approach would be to budget $1 million each year until 2020 for the campaign for a total project cost of $12 million.
Using the 2004 baseline Road Transportation Emissions figure of 166.747 MMT CO2E and data from the EPA memo (attached) annual reductions could be as high as 20.7%, and even if the reduction turns out to be only 1% that would still be an impressive 1.7 MMT per year for a total reduction of 20.4 MMT by 2020. $12 million divided by 20 MMT works out to about $600,000 per MMT.
Can’t modify the shape with paint - only the color. Store the used skins in the landfill with everything else!!!
Prove it yourself! Attached is a free download you can print out and use to record your savings. Thanks for participating!
Socialist drivel , how fast you drive should be a personal choice (within reason of course, Most everyone would agree that barreling down the road at 115 MPH in a blizzard is unsafe). But what about the emissions? Today’s cars are essentially non-polluting; the exhaust of some of the really clean cars (PZEV) is cleaner than the air going into the engine. But what about the rising cost of oil? What you drive is a personal choice; nobody should tell you what you can and can’t drive. Road conditions permitting I routinely drive 85 - 90 MPH on the highway. My time is more valuable than saving a few bucks on gas.
I’ll bet the insurance companies didn’t think the $10 tickets were “silly.”
And I’ll cancel your “no” vote with my “yes” vote. The 55 mph speed limit is the one single thing we “the government” can do to fight the big oil companies who are taking money from our wallets and putting it into their already bulging bank accounts. 55 won’t make people drive at the speed limit anymore than 65 makes people drive at 65. But, with proper law enforcement, and as insurance rates due to speeding tickets escalate for those who choose to ignore it, 55 will get those who now drive at 75 slow down to about 65 and by getting most drivers to slow down by about 5 to 10 mph on the highway gas consumption will drop and that will keep more money in our wallets and reduce demand. I just read an article that said United Parcel Service (UPS) saved several millions of gallons of gas last year in it’s fleet just by rerouting it’s trucks to make fewer right hand turns.
If this law isn’t “necessary” why is any speed limit necessary?
“There are a lot of ways to deal with speeding like fines and loss of driving privelages.”
The news article I read last week told about a guy who has had his license suspended 39 times. How does “loss of driving privelages” stop habitual offenders? Some people refuse to “see the light” until they see it through prison bars.
- There has been a 16 fold increase in the miles travelled since the mid 50s, proving that cars and highways are much safer.
How many fatalities were there in the mid 50’s?
You said it better than anyone could. Well spoken. I couldn’t agree more! B.L.E. doesn’t speak for everyone and particularly not for me.
You just defeated your own arguement for speed designated lanes when you mentioned you had been tailgated at 85mph. No matter how fast the speed “limit” is set, there will always be some speed freak that thinks he (or she) deserves to go faster.
Gas savings probably won’t replace anybody’s back bumper when they get rearended by an inattentive motorist, but the inattentive driver’s insurance company will. And his/her increased insurance rates may make them a more attentive driver in the future. And by the way, what does driving slower than the speed limit have to do with inattentive drivers? The problem then isn’t slower drivers, it’s inattentive drivers. Duh! As far as being ticketed for driving below the speed limit, in my state the minimum speed limit IS 20 mph below the MAXIMUM limit.