Drop the speed limit to 55mph and help fight terrorism, lower gas prices, help earth!

TheIVJackal

Freedom through Jesus
We imported 1,531,199,000 Barrels or 64,310,358,000 Gallons or $137,807,910,000BILLION worth of crude oil from OPEC in 2011 and you believe that not one dollar went to terrorist activities? I have the benefit of the doubt and you are the one that has to prove to me that dropping the speed to 55mph won’t save fuel and won’t help the planet. I am not a firm believer in global warming but when 2012 becomes the hottest year ever recorded and 70% of the country is in drought like conditions, it becomes a little harder not to believe. Let’s not forget that pollution from cars is the one factor that scientists most often criticize for “global warming”. Also, I don’t want to provide links for every source I have ever read regarding this stuff. I promise you that it is all factual and has a source, go ahead and prove me wrong if you don't believe me.

In 1973, Due to a huge oil shortage the national highway speed limit WAS reduced to 55MPH and had a 85% compliance rate. You know what that did to high populated cities? Terrible traffic jams. It was equivalent to closing 3 of the 4 lanes on a highway in rush hour traffic... This will be beneficial if everyone drove a car like a Prius or Volt because the batteries re-charge as you brake and you will then be doing a lot more braking then going 55MPH (I believe the Prius motor is always spinning but not fully functioning until 41MPH, I think the volt is 50MPH)... All while, Our cars use more gas in stop and go traffic then it does when driving on a clear highway going 65MPH. (Our EPA estimate is based on the current national highway max speed of 65MPH).

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law
And a discussion I had with a few of my older friends over a beer.
I’m guessing it was a typo but 85% did not comply with the speed limit, which is not surprising. It seems that on average, the driver will drive about 5mph over the posted speed limit. There is some controversy as to whether a reduction in the speed limit actually decreases traffic and this is where you have to go with what makes the most sense to you as the research is a bit hard to find. "Variable Speed Limits have generally been popular with road users who have reported perceived benefits, including less congestion and less stressful journeys". Driving at slower speeds basically reduces road rage, traffic accidents, fatalities, and the list goes on from there. Thus if there is a greater likelihood of an accident because people are driving faster (IIHS), then the odds of there being traffic congestion due to an accident goes way up as well.

I understand that many of you will not agree with me, I just wish that if you didn't agree, you would at least attempt to provide some sort of evidence that counters what I have presented. So far, DarkDB1 is the only one who has attempted to do this and I welcome the challenge. There is nothing to be learned by directly attacking me as a person or saying im wrong without any real claims to the contrary.
 
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klutchDb7

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)
I will dig up a report I made showing that raising the speed limit is not only safer for drivers and everyone on the road, but more cost effective as well. And I disagree with lower limits reducing traffic and road rage. I get freaking pissed when I'm behind slow drivers in slow speed limit areas, and traffic sucks balls around here (we have an average of 35-40mph limit in my area and traffic is 10x worse than my other area I lived in just a year ago where limits were 45-50). I would like to know where you are getting information from stating driving slower is actually safer, because from my research of actual studies taken, it is the exact opposite. Again, I'll try and find that report.
 

klutchDb7

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)
Oh, and on a note with the whole global warming thing, 25 years ago "scientists" we're saying the world was going to freeze over, like a second ice age. It's just hype IMHO, the world didn't freeze then and it's not going to catch on fire now. And the "solution" tree huggers have of driving hybrid and electric cars to save the environment is actually worse for it as well (this was another part of my report I'll include). The waste, pollution and energy needed to not only produce and transport said "energy efficient" cars actually ends up creating more of a negative effect on the environment than its saving. Not to mention that once the batteries are shot, they basically become a pile of near nuclear waste, which seems to me a little counter productive. I'm not sure if companies producing hybrids have changed anything since I researched it, but when I did I saw absolutely no reason to pick a hybrid/electric vehicle over a regular automotive vehicle.
 

DarkDB1

New Member
We imported 1,531,199,000 Barrels or 64,310,358,000 Gallons or $5,787,932,220,000 TRILLION worth of crude oil from OPEC in 2011 and you believe that not one dollar went to terrorist activities? I have the benefit of the doubt and you are the one that has to prove to me that dropping the speed to 55mph won’t save fuel and won’t help the planet. I am not a firm believer in global warming but when 2012 becomes the hottest year ever recorded and 70% of the country is in drought like conditions, it becomes a little harder not to believe. Let’s not forget that pollution from cars is the one factor that scientists most often criticize for “global warming”. Also, I don’t want to provide links for every source I have ever read regarding this stuff. I promise you that it is all factual and has a source, go ahead and prove me wrong if you don't believe me.



I’m guessing it was a typo but 85% did not comply with the speed limit, which is not surprising. It seems that on average, the driver will drive about 5mph over the posted speed limit. There is some controversy as to whether a reduction in the speed limit actually decreases traffic and this is where you have to go with what makes the most sense to you as the research is a bit hard to find. "Variable Speed Limits have generally been popular with road users who have reported perceived benefits, including less congestion and less stressful journeys". Driving at slower speeds basically reduces road rage, traffic accidents, fatalities, and the list goes on from there. Thus if there is a greater likelihood of an accident because people are driving faster (IIHS), then the odds of there being traffic congestion due to an accident goes way up as well.

I understand that many of you will not agree with me, I just wish that if you didn't agree, you would at least attempt to provide some sort of evidence that counters what I have presented. So far, DarkDB1 is the only one who has attempted to do this and I welcome the challenge. There is nothing to be learned by directly attacking me as a person or saying im wrong without any real claims to the contrary.
Yeah... I meant NON-Compliance... Read the wiki link, I showed. Your Idea was already thought of, and it failed miserably and with our cars now and days being much safer, much faster and being a lot more of them on the road today. You are dreaming.

And not really about the safety... Statistics at that time kept changing as was the increase of safer cars.

The german autobahn with no speed limit has a smaller death rate then our U.S highways do.

http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question116086.html
 

Ryan659

Active Member
Also, I don’t want to provide links for every source I have ever read regarding this stuff. I promise you that it is all factual and has a source, go ahead and prove me wrong if you don't believe me.
Just some honest advice, if you are the one that is making the argument then you need to provide credible proof of your stance. No intelligent person will believe something because another random person says its true. You are trying to convince people but if can only provide "because I said so" then you won't win. Taking the attitude of "well prove me wrong" is that of one who won't be convinced of the opposite no matter how much or how credible the evidence is against your stance. Your method of arguementation is backwards and, no insult intended, ignorant and contains no real substance.
 

480codyGSR

New Member
Just some honest advice, if you are the one that is making the argument then you need to provide credible proof of your stance. No intelligent person will believe something because another random person says its true. You are trying to convince people but if can only provide "because I said so" then you won't win. Taking the attitude of "well prove me wrong" is that of one who won't be convinced of the opposite no matter how much or how credible the evidence is against your stance. Your method of arguementation is backwards and, no insult intended, ignorant and contains no real substance.
Someone put this man up for an award!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TheIVJackal

Freedom through Jesus
Im not writing a paper for a grade here, I wish you guys would just trust me and verify if what I am saying is true or not. It is all true and sense many of you have responded in such hostile manners, my quote below fits well here, "Speak nothing but the truth, and you'll soon be considered dangerous". Anyways, to the rebuttals!
I will dig up a report I made showing that raising the speed limit is not only safer for drivers and everyone on the road, but more cost effective as well.
I’ll take that as a win!:D I know that's probably not what you meant.

The IIHS, those guys who rate each car on its safety said that "In 2010, a total of 10,395 deaths, or nearly a third of all motor vehicle fatalities, occurred in speed-related crashes. Based on a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes, speeding – defined as exceeding the speed limit, driving too fast for conditions or racing – was involved in 16 percent of property-damage-only crashes and 20 percent of crashes with injuries or fatalities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the economic cost of speed-related crashes is more than $40 billion each year." This really shouldn't be surprising considering just how bad drivers are in the US. There are plenty of other studies that come to similar conclusions.

Here is an excellent quick read I pulled up from ABC comparing German drivers to the US. U.S. Driving Habits Make Roads Deadly Some things that stood out to me in the reading; "Experts say American drivers break road rules, are frequently distracted and aren’t often trained to handle emergency situations." “I’ve driven a lot in Germany. Your average American wouldn’t stand a chance over there,” says Robert Sinclair Jr., spokesman for the Automobile Club of New York." "They don’t cruise in the left lane, they keep both hands on the wheel and act predictably. You know what the guy behind you’s up to and you know what the guy ahead of you’s up to. That’s never the case [in the U.S.]”.

You can't compare Germany to the US because they are overall much safer and more aware when it comes to driving, something that we don't have here due to how easy it is for us to get a driver’s license. "The Germans’ written test is tougher than Americans’, the minimum driving age is 18, and German drivers have to take classes in city traffic, on country roads, on autobahns and at night before being let loose on the roads." All I had to do was go through a couple traffic lights, pull up and reverse next to the curb, follow street signs, nothing like what has to be done in Germany. Point is your comparing apples with oranges.
 

superhypered

(╯°□°)╯ ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
Instead of wasting your breath on us, you should run for office when you would actually have power, because no one is going to go for it.
 

ZaWn

New Member
They should worry more about motorcycles. Research shows that even though they don't consume as much fuel as cars, they pollute the environment 10x more. Watch Mythbusters! XD

-Z-
 

XjoEnX

Active Member
So you'll provide us sources to accident stats that are not relative to the content of your cause after the fact that we told you that's what we needed? You're trolling big time. Still no sources, still the same "I'm right, you're wrong, there's no need to prove why I'm right" attitude, still a failed conceptual theory.

 

TegSox

Super Duper Moderator
Up to 28% of an automobile's lifetime negative environmental impact is created during it's manufacture - before it's ever been driven a single mile. It's better for the environment to drive a car into the ground rather than buy a brand new one.
 

Accel.speed

basically, i like fast!
I'd still go 82 mph if the speed limit changed to 55.. People will always be late.

AND.. I dont really believe you start losing mpgs past 60. I just got 38.5 mpgs going 75mph for about 80% of the miles..
 
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