{"id":9329,"date":"2010-03-17T08:11:11","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T13:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=9329"},"modified":"2010-03-17T12:28:09","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T17:28:09","slug":"ill-bet-even-jimmy-carter-cant-drive-55","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=9329","title":{"rendered":"I’ll Bet Even Jimmy Carter Can’t Drive 55"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wonder if the 55 MPH speed limit, a product of his protracted era of malaise, wasn’t more of a factor in retrospect, of the quick demise of his executive branch career?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, over thirty years later, the government is relaxing in favor of allowing citizens to use their own judgment.<\/p>\n

The 55 mph national speed limit enacted in 1973<\/a> in response to the first Arab oil embargo was justified as a means of conserving fuel. In 1987, the law was changed to allow speeds up to 65 mph. But the Republican Congress elected in 1994 did few things more popular than repealing the limit altogether in 1995.<\/p>\n

Virginia will become the 34th state to boost interstate speed limits to 70 mph or higher. In big, empty states such as New Mexico, Idaho and Nevada, posted limits on rural interstates can be as high as 75 mph.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have noticed when traveling longer distances that no matter what car I am driving, I tend to feel most comfortable just above 70 mph. The roads and our cars seem to be designed for that speed.<\/p>\n

Left to their own devices, American drivers confronted with an open stretch of interstate highway tend to drive at about 70 miles per hour\u2014whatever the legal speed limit happens to be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But doesn’t speed kill?<\/p>\n

both fatalities and fatality rates on U.S. highways are declining even as speed limits rise. The U.S. Department of Transportation last week reported that its latest estimate of highway deaths in 2009 is 33,963\u2014the lowest number since the government began keeping these grim records in 1954. The fatality rate is estimated at 1.16 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.<\/p>\n

Modern cars and light trucks have an average of 225 horsepower under the hood and sophisticated safety systems such as traction control. They are designed to cruise comfortably, safely and efficiently at between 65 and 70 mph\u2014if not faster, particularly in the case of the autobahn-burners German luxury brands sell.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anything above 75, I feel I almost have to be “too attentive” to the road and am unable to enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

Anything below that…I get bored.<\/p>\n

How fast do you <\/em>drive?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wonder if the 55 MPH speed limit, a product of his protracted era of malaise, wasn’t more of a factor in retrospect, of the quick demise of his executive branch career? Meanwhile, over thirty years later, the government is relaxing in favor of allowing citizens to use their own judgment. The 55 mph national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trains-and-automobiles","category-liberal-tyranny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9329"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9344,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9329\/revisions\/9344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}