My Desultory Blog

Rich.. rich.. rich.. “as a nation” nothing!

There may be a huge majority who want to lower dependence on foreign oil, but there’s NOT an national, unified belief that we should not drive conservatively! On my last trip on the highway, it was rare to see anyone driving legal speeds, especially among the larger vehicles.

Now, consider Texas… a huge, wide-open state. 80mph is reasonable there, and other areas too. They were likely driving 80 anyways. The only difference now not every Jane and Joe Commuter are criminals. I guess you could say they were voting with their right foot.

I do believe we should be ‘nudged’ towards being less wasteful. If not for the security, but also the less obvious benefits like the environment, safety (smaller, lighter, stronger vehicles), and self-sufficiency.

KY is thinking of increasing their speed limit too http://www.kcoy.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=480A7890-7E87-4E69-BC33-7C0E9C261859

Its one thing for an individual to ‘choose’ to drive a bit faster, but its another thing to be legislating energy conservation and “petroleum addiction” problems in one breath and increasing speed limits (using more oil) in another. My point is to get on the same page.

Thanks for the comment as always Mike … and the link.

Still, I think that this is a bit crazy. I believe PlaneCrazy has a few posts over on TDIClub where he mentions the comparison between going 130 km/h and 100 km/h (in a 100 km/h zone), and mentions that he doesn’t save *THAT MUCH* time by speeding.

Another thing… If one has a car that’s falling apart, 80 MPH might not be the brightest idea, but they’ll try to do it anyway. And, with it LEGALLY 80 MPH, this discriminates against those with cars that can’t safely do it, as almost nobody goes under the speed limit if they don’t have to (I don’t… I do 65-69 in a 65 in my old Jetta…)

You folks sound like a bunch of pansies…
You make it seem that all americans but you cannot show good sense in driving at speed and if they have a wreck of a car they wont drive sensibly. OH please! Seems to me its you folks that dont have good sense. Maybe you need your hands held while driving down the big bad road of life… I live in NM and yes our speed limit is 75.. some people drive slower and some drive faster. Rarely do people drive crazy, at the worst they drive to slow in the passing lane and do not pass. Those who are speeding dont seem to be going at unreasonable speeds. Most people drive faster then 75 mostly 80 and 85 which seems just right on our roads outside of the cities.. No problems at all.. just a natural feeling just right speed.. stop trying to control people and allow them to travel at speeds that seem naturaly right for them.. u want control move to Kalifornia where they want to legislate every aspect of your life and allow those of use who want to be free to remain that way even in the way we travel!!

Elbee,
Thanks for the comment. At least for me, the point is not the speed limit for speed limit sake, but the timing of raising the speed limit. I might have a little age on some of you, but I recall that the last time the US was concerned about importing oil and how it affected our country that we tried a few conservation measures. The current federal policies are not quite that aggressive and neither is the situation, but we are spending a few tax dollars on finding ways to solve our ‘addiction to oil.’ Both parties are in agreement that we need to address the petroleum problem from multiple angles … one of them doing something to reduce the amount of oil we use. Improving efficiency in the vehicles we drive and legislating higher MPG standards on auto manufactures. It just seems odd to me that at the same time we are addressing the problem from all angles that people would see the climate conducive for higher speed limits. (which uses more fuel) Again … thanks for reading and leaving a comment.