if the speed limit were still 55??????

[45-70.gov]

if the speed limit were still 55......would  we have a gas problem  today???

when  i was young they reduced the speed limit to 55 nationally to conserve fuel
then...some how.....more fossil fuels  were  made
and we  had ENOUGH oil to raise the speed limits back

what  if  the last generation never drove over 55...would we now have plenty of gas?

what about the next generation??

do we  need to bring in a  45 or 50 mph  to safe fuel??

an  added benefit would be  more travelers on the TSA controlled systems
meaning  more citizens searched, disarmed and tracked

[BBF]

considering the average  fuel used by the cars during the 55mph limit period our present new vehicles( passenger cars) could probably go 80+ mph for the same amount fuel.
 
Govt look at fuel prices from the point of taxes generated. If you reduce the amount used nation wide, it won't be long until taxes will increase.

[45-70.gov]

higher gas taxes would mean a greener planet

things cost what ever the market will bear

we can afford  and will pay  $5 a gallon

just think  what  a bind that would put the russians and chinese in

if we drilled our own  oil
instead of  buying it world wide  andinflating the cost of oil world wide
that would be a boom/cheap oil  for all the socialist and communist countries

[guzzijohn]

Try driving from Kansas City to Denver at 55. Have your affairs in in order because you will probably die of old age before getting there or at least it will seem like it.
GuzziJohn

[Empty Quiver]

I drive no more than 62mph >forty hours a week, have been for three years. I've gotten used to it, don't really like it but what am I going to do about it, company policy.  I really have no desire to drive over 67mph.

 I'm adding roughly three hours to my work week. I gained it back mostly through not daudling at rest stops. The driving is much simplified I get in the right lane and watch people leave me. No lane changes, no frustration from "slow drivers" in the left lane, pretty peaceful really.

Roughly speaking I gain 5%, or 0.23 cents per gallon, if you like to think in money. What would you put up with to stick $115 in YOUR pocket a week. >$35 per hour and as I said I've gotten most back through time management.

[BBF]

Could we import/build a few more Diesel engine cars??
I just checked on fuel prices in parts of Europe where just about every car maker offers Diesel engine options.

Diesel fuel is on the average 1(one) US dollar cheaper per US gal then gasoline.

Even here in good old Canada Diesel is a few cents cheaper then gasoline per liter.

I wonder why Diesel is so much higher in the US then gasoline,

[Heather]

Speed LImit is 55 or below on I20 in Alabama.  Our gas prices are still high.  65 on other hwy's for small stretches though.

[Swampman]

If Americans would give up their gas hogs gas prices would drop drastically.

[Mike38]

There is not a shortage of gasoline / crude oil, and don’t let anyone tell you there is. North America has enough crude underground to last us 200 years at the current rate of usage. The northern US and Canada sand pits have more crude oil in them then all of the Mid-East. In 200 years, I’m sure we could come up with alternative fuel sources. Problem is, our government will not let it be drilled for.

[Swampman]

It doesn't matter....if we reduce consumption enough the price will plummet.

[bilmac]

Seems like my full size Dodge gets better MPG at 60 to 63 mph??? I like to drive slower too, way more relaxed.

I have a Japanese K truck and it gets better MPG at around 40 mph. I use it to commute 40 miles to my "farm". I don't drive that slow on the busy highway, but most of the way is a pretty lonely farm to market road and as I am getting used to it, it is becoming a nice restful drive to cruse down that hwy at 40 watching the countryside.

Funny thing I am noticing, about half the guys in pickup trucks wave at you. Nobody in a car or SUV ever waves, women don't wave. Hunters and fishers don't wave. But most of the traffic is guys in pickups, and it's kind of nice to wave a howdy through the windshield.

[Swampman]

Drive 40 around here and you'll get lots of "waves."

[BUGEYE]

Drive 40 around here and you'll get lots of "waves."

I drive about 50 on the interstate and get a lot "waves" from truckers.

[45-70.gov]

i drive slow....doesn't bother me
 the closer they get behind me the slower  i go

and when they pass....they let me  know  i am still  #1

[mcwoodduck]

higher gas taxes would mean a greener planet

things cost what ever the market will bear

we can afford  and will pay  $5 a gallon

just think  what  a bind that would put the russians and chinese in

if we drilled our own  oil
instead of  buying it world wide  andinflating the cost of oil world wide
that would be a boom/cheap oil  for all the socialist and communist countries

NO!  Wrong.  Higher taxes do not create a greener planet.
Higher taxes create higher prices.  Lowering usage and production.  Cheaper means of production are used to produce those goods.  Often off shore where enviromental concerns are never an issue.  Look at the old Soviet Union and the enviromental disasters they left.  Higher gas prices would normally dictate that new production be brought into the market to meet the demands.  The Green morons and the government have limited that production by not allowing drilling or new refineries.
The 55 speed limit was based on the maximum fuel efficiency based on the designs of the cars at the time.  New car designs are more areodynamic and allow for higher speeds as well as the weights of the cars have been decreased to meet the Cathy standards that are killing people by increasing fuel efficency but reducing mass that saves lives in accidents.
For everything there is a trade off.  The green morons that think we can have a complete green society like in star trek are delusional with current technoligy and mandating rules will not hasten the technoligy.

[Swampman]

Drive 40 around here and you'll get lots of "waves."

I drive about 50 on the interstate and get a lot "waves" from truckers.

In FL you'll get a ticket for breaking the law.   As you should.

[BUGEYE]

driving 50 is illegal in fla???

[Swampman]

Just on the interstate.

[sdb777]

It doesn't matter....if we reduce consumption enough the price will plummet.

Not sure about this....

#1:  Reduce consumption, market stabilizes and price remains constant or more taxes could be added to keep increasing prices due to lack of consumption taxes.

#2: Price will plummet, production could be cut back to keep prices inflated....



The speculation market seems to be the biggest problem we have....sort of an Enron roundabout?  No amount of driving slower, buying 'green death-trap cars', or reduction in consumption....or worse, not going anywhere will always result in the cost going up.  Guberment needs your monies, and one way or the other are working on getting all of it!



Scott B

[sdb777]

Was the 55mph rule enacted by Jimmy Carter his way of fighting back against Big Oil??...it did seem to break the shortage and stop  the price war against Americans.


..TM7
.

I really don't think J. Carter had enough brain cells to 'fight BigOil'?

The shortage was 'created' during that period.....  Small Japanese cars started to flood the United States and jobs were hard to find in the Ford, Chevy, etc factories.  Seems to be a trend nowadays, 'never let a good crisis go to waste'!




Scott B

[mcwoodduck]

sbd777,
I remember the gas lines and th runs on the pumps were more like the runs on the bank.
Normal demand there was enough but as the media came out and said the OPEC was going to cut deliveries of oil to our refineries people paniced and wanted to fill the family car so as not to run out.  With an ove welming demand as a few stations ran out of gas and hung the Red flag more people panniced and dashed into any open station with a green flag even if it ment waiting 30 minutes or more in line.
After a month or two of people having full tanks and not running out and having the family station wagon on the side of the road stranded waiting for AAA to show up.  The crisis was over.  The small fuel efficient cars were a start.  Dad bought one in 79 but I remember many Big Detroit steel cars in the neighborhood and new ones showing up.
When Carter made the Dpt of Energy to promote domestic energy sources, that has now become the anti domestic energy resource department under Clinton and now Obama is the fight against our economy, forget big oil, it is a fight against everything except BIG Governemnt.  Where is Ronald Reagan when we need him?

[sdb777]

I remember some of the gas line thing.  But luckily, the folks were pretty level headed and always planned ahead(or waited out the wackos).

Ronald Reagan sure talked a good talk.  But when it came right down to it, he was still at the Bohemian Grove watching the effigy being burned at the alter of Moloch.  He certainly didn't disband the Federal Reserve Bank or make it part of Congress as it should be.  And there was the question: How much did he know about drugs for guns(Oliver North's pet project)?




Scott B

[mcwoodduck]

Not saying Reagan was perfect.  Sure there were many things he could of or should have done.
But when you compare Reagan to Clinton, Carter, or Obama.  He shines compared to those turds.
Reagan knew that the private industry was the answer to our problems and that the open market will sort out resources.
Those other idiots think government is the answer to everything and they can and shou told control what you are able to do.
The Fed and other government agencies would not be a concern if the idiots in government understood our system and did not try to change it to what they think or worse feel it should be.
I really think we should have a random 100 question test on US History, the constitution, citizenship, and economics before the ellected are allowed to vote or write laws or make policy. And Pass it with 85% or better.  I am convinced Cliton and Obama would not have been allowed to set policy on anything.