[35Kas]

I think there are cars that are very efficient at 65-75mph... instead of making everyone suffer for the folly of the few, just make cars that have a low mpg rating to pay an extra tax, like $2K at time of purchase, and eliminate those stupid giveaways that come with trucks (not the semi type).

[mefistofeles]

With current energy prices I doubt this proposal will go very far, even many people who visit this site are driving more!

Gas prices have fallen by nearly 50% since July in Germany and the UK and and we're looking at under to $2.00/gallon gasoline here in the States.

EIA Report on Fuel Prices

In fact with auto sales down by 30%+ its hard to see Congress doing anything that could adversely impact Detroit with their huge selection of fuel burning cars. Its funny when I was looking at a new car in 2007 I was expecting fuel prices in the US to be somewhere around $6.00/gallon by this time.

I almost feel vindicated in buying a big fast V-6 sedan. However I know that good things do not last,I might as well burn the fuel while its cheap. The implications of peakoil are perverse indeed.

Who knows perhaps I would have toyed around with idea of buying a gas guzzling Pontiac GTO if I had known gasoline prices would peak at the $4.00 mark.

[vtsnowedin]

55mph. It has to be.

No, it doesn't have to be. They can accomplish more just by raising the gas tax and setting registration fees by curb weight. No need to change all those signs again or restrict peoples freedom to make their own decisions. We have tried this. it created a whole generation with little respect for the law.

[frankthetank]

The cops around here are so busy with domestic cases, that they don't have time to be running radar. They also our under staffed (patrol). Lots of "chiefs" who sit in the station doing nothing while the "indians" are out doing the real work.

[mos6507]

I think there are cars that are very efficient at 65-75mph...

There are some cars that are more efficient on the freeway. Corvettes are notorious for that, but that's an exception, not the rule.

[smallpoxgirl]

About the only way Obama will be reinstating the 55mph speed limit is if he has made a bet with Dubya about who can get worse approval ratings.

OTOH, it might finally drive Montana to secede which could be interesting.

[vision-master]

I think there are cars that are very efficient at 65-75mph...

There are some cars that are more efficient on the freeway. Corvettes are notorious for that, but that's an exception, not the rule.

No, that's the rule now. I can get over 30mpg at 65mph with the Monte Carlo SS.

[vision-master]

Semi trucks will suffer at 55mph. They are geared to run 60-70mph nowadays.

[gollum]

I would like to see it back to 65, then we (my wife and I) can drive at 55-60 without causing a huge accident, and those that want to go 70 can do so without much consequence. The problem with us driving 55-60 is that we are a hazard because people pass us at 80-85.

[Armageddon]

I would like to see it back to 65, then we (my wife and I) can drive at 55-60 without causing a huge accident, and those that want to go 70 can do so without much consequence. The problem with us driving 55-60 is that we are a hazard because people pass us at 80-85.

Studies have been done that show slow drivers cause more accidents than fast drivers.

[KevO]

The cops around here are so busy with domestic cases, that they don't have time to be running radar. They also our under staffed (patrol). Lots of "chiefs" who sit in the station doing nothing while the "indians" are out doing the real work.

this is 2008. Cops don't do speeders. Digital cameras do. 80% of all speeding fines in the Uk are now from roadside cameras

[smallpoxgirl]

Telling a Montanan to drive 55mph is just slightly below trying to take away their guns. Things are far apart out here. There are people out here for whom "Going in to town" means driving several hundred miles. That takes A LOT longer at 55 than it does at 75.

If you feel some irrepressible need to meddle with things, here's what you do: A: You raise the gasoline tax to where it covers all the societal costs of automobile travel. B: You raise the fleet average CAFE standard to 40+ mpg. The speed of travel will sort itself out.

[dinopello]

Telling a Montanan to drive 55mph is just slightly below trying to take away their guns. Things are far apart out here. There are people out here for whom "Going in to town" means driving several hundred miles. That takes A LOT longer at 55 than it does at 75.
If you feel some irrepressible need to meddle with things, here's what you do: A: You raise the gasoline tax to where it covers all the societal costs of automobile travel. B: You raise the fleet average CAFE standard to 40+ mpg. The speed of travel will sort itself out.

I don't think you even need B if you do A.

I don't drive much - but when I do, I like to drive fast.

[Armageddon]

I was driving 80 down the Florida turnpike last week in the slow lane heading from Orlando to Miami. Cars were passing me like I was standing still. I couldn't imagine driving 55. 70 even seems slow to me anymore.

[frankthetank]

Vision-

I hope you take it easy in the snow...



Did you jack up the back end yet and put slicks on? Take them off before the clipper comes through this weekend. You could lose control when you are going to Mall of America Christmas shopping on 494 going about a buck ten.

[gollum]

this is 2008. Cops don't do speeders. Digital cameras do.
80% of all speeding fines in the Uk are now from roadside cameras

If I find one of these unattended, where I can reach it I will destroy it. I will not tolerate living in a police state and will resist where I am able.

[Armageddon]

They sell some type of product that causes cameras not to see your license plate numbers. Some type of reflecting spray on stuff I think. I heard it works and is not visible to the naked eye.

Edit: Found it: Detectors

[KevO]

this is 2008. Cops don't do speeders. Digital cameras do. 80% of all speeding fines in the Uk are now from roadside cameras

If I find one of these unattended, where I can reach it I will destroy it. I will not tolerate living in a police state and will resist where I am able.

that does happen, a lot. There are even activist groups.
But now they are installing cameras to watch the cameras and in one place in Somerset (the UK equivalent of Louisiana- and for ever reason) they have another camera watching those two! I crap you not.
But the new, now being installed average speed cameras that are fitted under flyovers making them inaccesible and watched by other cameras are the dogs bollocks.

But get ready America, because you are DEFINITELY getting thsse. The contracts have dried up now.

Newer, digital speed cameras involve pairs (or networks) of cameras set at long distances apart. As vehicles pass between the cameras their average speed is calculated. If a vehicle is travelling faster than a pre-set threshold, its details and a colour image are digitally recorded. Digital cameras can send this information directly to a computer which generates the penalty notices.

LINK
and from

A survey carried out by Car Parts Direct has revealed that over 268,000 drivers are now banned from driving and millions of pounds are being paid out in speeding fines. Thousands of motorists are losing their jobs, freedom and ability to earn a living. 82% of speed camera victims thought they were driving safely at the time of their conviction and were just unfortunate to be doing a few miles over the limit. 65% thought their speeding ticket was totally unjustified and felt cheated.

http://www.abd.org.uk/speed_cameras.htm

and as for living in a police state, let me tell you:

According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.
Use of spy cameras in modern-day Britain is now a chilling mirror image of Orwell's fictional world, created in the post-war Forties in a fourth-floor flat overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London.
On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.

THIS IS LONDON and sooon to be every town and city in the US, so enjoy it whilst you still can guys. Obama Brother coming soon.

[mos6507]

Driving is a privilege, not a right. And I assume you aren't doing something personal like receiving a BJ in your car that you wouldn't want to be on a security camera. I don't like the cameras either. In fact I got caught going through a red light at like 3AM once, but I don't think they are a sign of 1984. The old addage "no cop, no stop" is over, and it's probably for our own good. There is no honor in breaking traffic laws.

[KevO]

Driving is a privilege, not a right. And I assume you aren't doing something personal like receiving a BJ in your car that you wouldn't want to be on a security camera. I don't like the cameras either. In fact I got caught going through a red light at like 3AM once, but I don't think they are a sign of 1984. The old addage "no cop, no stop" is over, and it's probably for our own good. There is no honor in breaking traffic laws.

or being free.

freedom is truly overrated and nobody is, or ever was, anyway.
Freedom is like any ism. Unrealistic.
And the word is used when things are totally the opposite such as 'the land of the free'