parkerracing

I'm surprised some other azz gasket hasen't proposed this already (excluding Congressman James Howard from the 70's).

http://www.good.is/post/you-can-drive-55/?gt1=48001

ZR1 MK

55 is BS and its mainly money making crap for our govenment, not as noted in that article.

That chart is for the old inefficient cars and current SUVs, not the majority of cars.

Gas mileage takes a heavy hit around town and in traffic, not on the highway. We need efficient traffic light etc.

95jersey

no way that would pass, instead every driver should be mandated to go through a breif driving school, that would significantly save more lives than 55mph.

They should attend a 2 day school and have to pay for it if you want a liscense. Think about it, you pass some BS test, parallel park and bang you got a liscense...not good.

0Randy@DRM

A mile east of my house, 3 people have died in the same area. There is a couple bumps in the road and people love to drive over the line. Which causes a head on and people die. Now a good driver will see and feel the couple bumps and make corrections.

Randy

Kubs

I started Auto-xing when I got my temps and it taught me car control and what to expect from the car before I even took the test, and I ended up getting 100% on my drivers test. There needs to be something else to teach drivers ed.

sothpaw2

I'll go a step further...it should have to be renewed every 2 years with a new test. Most don't care about the rules and should be reminded at a minimum of all the rules they are breaking and how they cause traffic jams and accidents. There should be a lot of emphasis on merging and passing and an actual stress on the idea that the the travel lanes are for travel (not RUBBERNECKING or guessing which exit to take, eating, texting etc) especially during rush/peak hours. Teach respect for the rush and it will save more gas than anything.

trackboss

I've actually thought everyone should have to tow a good size trailer for some time before getting signed off to drive with a license. Not to mention if drivers don't know the basics like checking tire pressure, oil, pumping fuel, replacing a flat tire, etc. they should fail the test. If they can't do any of those things for what reason does anyone think they are capable behind the wheel. Too many gadgets in cars now that people rely on and think they are safe. Tire moniters should be outlawed. If someone cannot keep an eye on their tires they should not drive in public.

USA1C5

I love to drive fast just like all of you guys. So, I go to the track and drive fast as I can make a lap. I however don't have a problem with 55 mph speed limit. Let's face it, it will save fuel and lives. It is a proven fact. Let's face it unlike most of us Corvette drivers that can handle higher speeds the general public as a whole can't. I am retired now and I'm in no hurry to get anywhere, which may have a lot to do with my stand on this. I still find myself inching over the speed limit from time to time but that's my problem. 55 mph speed limit okay with me. I like to drive fast, so I go to the track for that. After all if we could drive 70 mph or so on the street legally, that's not even half the speed you can drive at the track if you feel the need for speed that bad. 55 mph will save fuel and lives, it's that simple.

vettehardt

I have been a believer in makeing it harder for someone to get a liscense for a long time. I an 30 now and started autocrossing the weekend after I got my liscnese at 16 years old. I think drivers ed should be mandatory, but it needs to be harder to pass. There needs to be a minimum ammount of night time driving required as well as how to take care of your car. Here in Indiana they keep wanting to raise the age limit to 18 also. I dont' think that is a good idea either. At 18, or soon after, most kids are going off to college and underage drinking for the first time. That is a terrible combination. If they would make it tougher to get the liscense and require more training it would save more lives than raising the driving age. If we could get people trained right, maybee we to could have an Autobahn like Germany without a speed limit.

I have been autocrossing sice I got my liscense and have gotten my speed fix at the track. I have never had a speeding ticket. The only accidents you could say I have had was hitting two deer on the way home from work. It's uncountable how many accidents I have avoided because I knew how to handle my car.

As far as the speed limit goes, most places the limit is over 55 is on limited access roads. It's not like they have a 70mph limit going down the main street of your city. I think it's worse for people to go 45mph when everybody else is traveling 70mph. That causes more problems than anyting. We have such an extensive road system here and places are so spread out that we need the higher limits to get anywhere in any amount of time.

sothpaw2

It's not about a need for speed. It's about travel. 55 is sloooooow. In many highway situations it is a colossal waste of my time. IF I wasn't trying to get somewhere, I wouldn't be in a travel lane, I'd be at home or work.

Then there's the other problem--rush hour (or should I say hours). Sorry but I wish I could even approach 55mph here anytime between 3-7pm. If you encourage people with this idea "slower is safer", they will drive even slower and make it worse than it already is today (although I'm not sure it's possible). People need to learn to drive with some focus and attach some seriousness. Government will do anything but encourage traffic flow to move more efficiently.

Sure--make it 55mph. But, ticket people for the following also: 1)Rubber necking, with $500 fine in rush hour 2)failure to yield during merge 3)failure to move to a right lane when not passing and running abreast of cars in the right lane 4) 15mph under the speed limit during rush hour in good weather conditions, no obstructions 5)15mph below the speed limit in tunnels during rush hour--this is not the tunnel of love people!! 6) texting or cell phone or video use while driving

USA1C5

Let me add cell phone use while driving to your list above. I have been almost run off the road by people on a cell phone more than anything else I can think of. I know there are a lot of other distractions but cell phone use has got to be the biggest and worst.

sothpaw2

I had that as #6

That really goes back to adding back a sense of seriousness to driving. It's serious business! Lives are at stake! Not to mention people's valuable time & money and contribution to the environment.

It's not as simple as slower==safer. In many cases, it's a lot more dangerous. I'd say #1 out of all 6 is #2 failure to yield during merge. I've had plenty of near misses there averted only by my actions. This causes #3 failure to move right because people don't want to be in that lane and constantly have to slam on the brakes or swerve to avoid people not failing to yield.

If driver education was narrowly focused on safety such as following the rules and drummed in every 2 years and actually enforced (yeah--enforce something other than speed limits and registration)--I bet fatalities would decrease 4 times more than lower the speed limit to 55mph.

C66 Racing

Interesting read. Not surprisingly in this group, we are of same mind on teaching people to really learn to drive.

My 17 year old daughter took a formal school (not taught in high school where we've lived anymore) and passed her Washington State driving exam very shortly after she turned 16. As I was deployed for most of the time she had her learners permit, I didn't get much time to help other than a last minute push for parallel parking so she could pass her test.

But... she has not passed my qualification requirements yet. In good nuclear navy fashion, I developed a qualification card which includes many of the points raised above: mandatory hours with me (day and night), teen drivers course at a track, go-kart time (local indoor track has some pretty good karts), required reading (dui, texting consequences), navigation (without gps - 4 trips over 30 miles, 2 over 60), and a real essay test. She's not happy about any of this of course, but she is a much better driver than she was a year ago. My younger daughter, while amused, sees the writting on the wall.

6SPEEDZ

A slower speed limit does not save lives it takes lives. There has been studies done to prove this that the 55 mph crowd will not admit to. Shortly after the original 55 mph mandate traffic fatalities started climbing upward. I definitely agree how people get licensed should change. We should be like Finland where you have to know how to drift and other actual car control maneuvers. You are required to drive on a wet skid pad course.

sothpaw2

I realized long before I had a Corvette or tried HPDE that people here do not follow the rules or do not know remember them anymore.

When I drove in France on the highway, the french citizens did not tolerate people hogging the left lane not passing and running at near the same speed as the right. They were very adamant for you to get out of that left lane. Here people will hog that lane forever as if it is a God given right.

USA1C5

Speed is relative. 55 is slow compared to 70 or it's fast compared to 45. 70 could be slow compared to 90 and etc. etc. etc. No matter the speed limit there will be those pushing past it. I don't buy the argument that 55 will cause more fatalities. If you site a study that shows otherwise all I can say is one can find a study somewhere that can show anything you want. I guess someone can also find a study somewhere that 55 will use more fuel than 70. Again, I'm retired now and time is no object for me anymore. So it's easy for me to say slower now. When I was working and commuting to work everyday my time to work at speed limit was approx. about 20 min. at speed limit if I could have gone 15 mph over the speed limit maybe I could have done it in maybe 16 min., big deal. I realize on a longer trip time saving would be more substantual but to me still not worth it. Slower does = Safer provided everyone is required to be slower but as usual there is always those that will not be slower and cause all the problems. I agree if eveybody is doing 70 and one person is doing 55 then the one doing 55 is the problem but when eveyone is doing 55 then the one being the problem is the one doing 70.

Timz06

For those of us who are not lounging around retired and have a need to get somewhere, 55 is ridiculous. 70 mph is 25 % more than 55 that is a significant amount of time.

We need to follow what is being done in Germany. No limit where the roads and conditions allow (there are variable speed limits that change according to congestion, weather, etc.) No passing on the right. (Strictly forbidden in Germany) , move out of the left lane if you are not passing. No cell phone or texting. Real driver education. Getting a license costs about 1k and you have to be able to do things like change tires and take responsibility (if you run out of fuel on the autobahn, you are ticketed.)

Finally, get all of retired people off the road and out of the left lane

USA1C5

Playing the role of Devils Advocate here and being retired. There is not much more I can say on this topic. Time can be saved driving faster, I will agree with that and yes there are a lot of old people that shouldn't be on the road. To suggest that all retired people should be off the road well that is a ridiculous statement. People tend to go to the extreme when they try to express themselves. What is the age range for people to be allowed on the road? I am retired and drive HPDE's from time to time and I even istruct from time to time. There are lots of retired people that instruct at HPDE's, lets ban them all from the road, that makes a lot of sense. I can handle the speed limit regardless of what it is. I have no more to add to this topic, but I will be reading all replies. Someone else take the Devils Advocate role.

bobmoore2

It is not a proven fact! It is nothing but false government propaganda.

In fact the statistics prove that the 55 mph speed limit resulted in less than 1% reduction in fuel usage, and no appreciable reduction in traffic deaths.

The government kept on using the "Speed kills" mantra the whole time we were stuck with the 55mph National Maximum Speed Limit, but the facts did not show any change in the death toll due to the NMSL. When the NMSL was repealed, the death tolls decreased.

"Any lie spoken strongly enough and often enough, eventually becomes a fact." Hermann Goebels, propaganda minister for Hitler and the **** Party.

USA1C5