speed limits could rise to 80 mph to shorten journey times

there's no economic benefit to 80mph speed limit: it'll increase fuel consumption, harm the environment with larger amounts of emissions and won't save much time... and I won't even get into safety issues!

I read that story, and at the end is this:
Now, imagine that lede in the US media. Tough, innit?
What does that mean?

Last Friday: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/02/25/spain-speed...

Speeds of 80 mph would be reasonably consistent with recommended speeds on many of Germany's autobahnen where, according to Wikipedia, there is "no general speed limit...but the maximum recommended speed is 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph)".

I had the opportunity to drive 8 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway at speeds ranging from the 120 mph to the 145 mph. I even passed a slower driver between turns 1 and 2 at 138 mph. It was fun and exciting and in no way terrifying. In fact, it was bit of letdown when I went through turns 1 and 2 on the next lap and there was no car to pass.

I would feel comfortable driving most of the rural portions of interstates at 80 on a regular basis. In fact, many already do so. I honor the 70 mph limit and get passed a lot by vehicles travelling much faster. I think there should also be a minimum speed limit of 60 mph on interstates.

I don't think it is likely that the legal speed limits will be raised. If they are, my guess is that 75 would be tops. If they are lowered, they will be ignored like the old "double nickle" limit.

We already have 80 mph legal limits in West Texas.

On the east coast and midwest 80 mph is extremely unlikely. There is one easy way to increase safety at any speed limit, have rational minimum speeds. A minimum of 40 (in my state) with a speed limit of 70 is just plain dumb. A 30+ difference in max. and min. speed, what are they thinking. They are not is the problem. Conditions permitting, minimum speeds should be 10 below the max. speed or absolutely not more than 15 mph. If you want to do 40 or 45, get off the interstate and take the back roads, your speed will be closer to the speed limit and everybody will be safer.

Just my 2 cents.

Wasn't the UK complaining not long ago about an increase in fuel taxes? Now, they want to go faster?

People never cease to amaze me.

I can't imagine what the idiots going 40 most of the time on the Interstate are thinking.

He is probablly thinking about how much gas the idiot that just passed him doing 80 is wasting.

ROFL!

Of course there is an economic benefit of an 80 MPH Limit; if there is an increase in fuel consumption more fuel taxes will be paid to the government for use as stimulus money and to hand out to welfare cheats. If there is no increase in fuel consumption then the oil companies will have more money to spend on exploration in the USA. If there is more pollution then more people will die and we will have less people to feed, thereby lowering the price of food. If will defiantly reduce my commuting time allowing for more work to get done, making me more productive, or allow me more time to buy junk food that will kill me and again reducing the population and pressure on food prices. As for safety it will make for better drivers or dead (less) drivers, more room on the road for me, both are desirable outcomes.

I believe we should have a system like the autobahn in Germany.

Unless there is a disclaimer at the end of a post, I take it at face value. I am very disappointed.

Maybe you should be actually thinking about the underlying message in his rather crude post. I think there are some good points hiding in there.

On the original subject........
First, what's the value of a few minutes of your life ?? If your driving time is reduced, one could theoretically use those minutes for something more productive. In reality, however, that probably wouldn't happen as "you" would just buy a house a little farther from your job and you would still have an hour commute each way. A lot more of your precious "life minutes" could be saved by living closer to your job.

On some of the things he said........
I just saw a report today that indicated that world population and over-consumption might do us in before adverse climate change or a meteor hit or anything else does. The planet is on the verge of not being able to produce enough food to feed us all right now. Running out of oil won't seem so important if we start running out of food first.

There is always soylent green. I prefer red myself but to each his own.

Some people can't control a car at 65mph. Hate to see them going 80+ mph
I drive US95 from NY to FL a few times a year and have seen accidents with cars going about 70 mph.
The cars literally come apart. How far will the pieces fly at 80mph? Driver in Europe have more practice driving at those speeds and the roads are better with less sharp turns, not like the roads in this country. If you ever notice on US highways there are only straight runs only every few miles. This was done by the government to land planes in case of emergancys.

/agree

Rath *does the speed limit, +/- 5*

I think they should set more realistic speed limits. most of the NY highways have 50-55 mile/hour limits and most of the traffic travels (safely) at 60-70 mph.

Of course, the cops like it b/c they can hand out a lot of tickets.

I doubt if there are too many interstates in the US you could really go 80 mph safely. when I lived in PA some of their interstates were the worse in the country. Now it seems some the states are taking the cheap way out(using tar and gravel) to pave the interstates, would you really want to be behind a car or truck going 80mph or better, they already do.

Economic benefit from slower speeds, depends on your point of view.

When the Interstate speed limits were removed in Montana, I observed many people drove about 82 mph. The citizens asked the legislature for a limit. 75 was decided on. Seems like most people still drove about 82mph. I-90 is about 630 across Montana.

They do it here in NJ on the turnpike and parkway, repost the speeds and they'll do 100.

Hhhmmmm, did anyone here see that 1970's movie Soylent Green? Sounds like that could be a real possibility.

Lighten up a bit However a sarcastic remark does have more than a bit of truth in it.

Fresh water will become in short supply

Many (thousands of miles of interstate hiways) could go to 80-100 mph easily. Should everyone drive these limits? NO. But that is not a basis to reduce speeds for everyone because some can't do it. If you value your time then by decreasing travel time by 35%-40% would have dramatic savings over one year. Multiply that by 5-10 years and savings are dramatic. Costing more in gas when driving faster....If cost per mile is important then maybe we need to ban any vehicle that doesn't meet minimum mpg standards? Ban all
V-8's, ban all hummers or any vehicle that doesn't get 30mpg? That would do more than telling anyone they can't drive over 55mph.

Over 3 different cars I have noticed little if any difference in fuel economy between 55 and up.

In the NYC area, where HOV lanes are 1 lane traps (no exit/entry except every couple of miles or so - rigidly enforced by the gendarmes), I'd like to see a higher speed limit for the HOV lane AND a higher minimum speed limit for the HOV lane as well. It is maddening but all too common to be behind a slow poke in the HOV lane, while the traffic in the regular lanes passes you by (at a brisk pace, too). And/or let traffic enter/exit the HOV lanes anywhere.

I agree that many drivers here in the US cannot properly control their vehicle, but (imo) that isn't because of practice, but the difference in driver licensing methods btw the US and many countries in Europe.

Here in the US, just simply showing up for the road test pretty much guarantees passing, while in Europe, just turning the key before you've gone through all initial steps could result in a failure, even before you get on the road, much less the difficult task of varied driving the testers have the tested try to accomplish.

Not true. Urban myth.

If they make it any harder, some group will file for discrimination if anyone of them can't pass it.

Because a DL is a right, right? Yea, right...

Agreed!

Because those who CAN do it tend to smash into those who CAN'T.

I think you need to explain that a bit.

Do you really mean that as you go faster than 55 you have NOT noticed that the gas mileage goes down.....and that there is some speed after which it drops off dramatically ??

If so, I think you haven't been looking closely enough.

Vehicles that have poor mileage to begin with (BIG engines) tend to drop off less as the speed goes up but you can't defeat wind resistance and they all do it to some degree. With smaller engines and better mileage below 55, the effect is more dramatic.

Sounds to me like he needs to get out of the mountains and away from the coast.......like Kansas and Nebraska.....or West Texas maybe !!

I can prove that my Jaguar X-Type 2003 with the 2.5 engine gets better MPG at a steady 70 than 55. The 55 MPH limit to save gas is nothing more than B.S. imho.

As this link indicates, most - but not all - cars experience a decline in mileage above 60 MPH

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml

I am sure you have done the necessary studies to prove to yourself that your jag gets better gas mileage at 70 than at 55, but that does not mean that your experience is the norm. Just out of curiosity, how many miles did you log at each speed to make your conclusion?

I promise you that your experience is NOT typical.
The last time I saw published study data, I think the optimum speed for fuel efficiency for most vehicles was somewhere around 45 MPH......right above where many automatics shift into the highest gear.

Making conclusions based only on your personal experience seems to be a growing disease these days.
That's the real BS.

At 55 I get 27.8 mpg
At 70 I get 30.1 mpg

Using 91 Octane

I have run the test four times on trips to the western part of Virginia from NYC for the 70 MPH part and I used a run from the Queens/Nassau county line to Riverhead for the 55 MPH part, also on 4 different occasions.

I used the speed indicator on my Nuvi 350 to check the speed.

Thanks for the info. You seem to have enough data to be sure about your numbers. I have never tried to gauge the mileage at different speeds but I do things like checking my odometer by trying to drive 60 MPH on a road that has mileage markers (in order to get an adjustment factor to know how my car's miles compare to measured miles).

I will have to go back and look up the death rates per million miles driven during that time in the 1970s when we had the 55 MPH speed limit.

Its a Urban myth that highways had stretches of straight sections for planes to land on, not that they have straight stretches at all.

I can agree to a point with your statement.

Every vehicle has a 'sweet' spot, where aerodynamics, and engine efficiency meet in the curve. It looks like you've found yours.

IMO, that's what consumers need to do for their own best interest, and money spent.

For me, it's between 100 and 110 kph (62-68 mph). On my bike, it's 160 kph, believe it or not. Not feasible in many places, though...

I think it all comes down to knowing your vehicle.

I hope the slow poke that you speak of is not doing the speed limit! I mean...how dare he follow the law!! And by the way.....if the cars in the regular traffic lanes are passing you, why are you in the hov lane? As for an 80mph speed limit...just think, those people who can barely drive now(you know the ones; driving wrong way on the highway, stopping in the middle of the road beacause of a flat tire pulling across 3 lanes to exit because they forgot where they were, ect) would now be allowed to much faster or be obsticles for you to show off you great driving skills as you atempt to avoid them at 80mph.

I hope the slow poke that you speak of is not doing the speed limit! I mean...how dare he follow the law!! And by the way.....if the cars in the regular traffic lanes are passing you, why are you in the hov lane? As for an 80mph speed limit...just think, those people who can barely drive now(you know the ones; driving wrong way on the highway, stopping in the middle of the road beacause of a flat tire, pulling across 3 lanes to exit because they forgot where they were, ect) would now be allowed to go much faster or be obsticles for you to show off you great driving skills as you atempt to avoid them at 80mph.

I am an American who lived in London for many years and acquired a UK driver's license. Part of their safety stems from a very rigid and demanding driving test to get your license. I believe less than 50% pass it on the first try and Hallmark actually makes "Congratulations" cards for passing the test.

our driving test is a joke. some third world countries have better driving tests.

people who have no sense of driving, pass on first try.

I'd be interested to know how you sustained that speed long enough to get any reliable kpg/mpg numbers. And, no, I don't believe your bike is most efficient at that speed.

Although I have never been in Germany, I had many a German as a client when I was in the real estate business in the Caribbean. According to what they told me, the driving test is extremely difficult to pass. According to them the DL test that they took when they had US residency was a joke. Just imagine everyone you know that has a DL. Now imagine everyone of them driving on a Autobahn at over 100 MPH. VERY FRIGHTNING isn't it, yet thousands of Germans do it every day with a very high degree of safety.