Comments on: speed limit politics (Obama disappoints)

By: David Giacalone

David Giacalone — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:47:03 +0000

Well, Speed, no one can expect any politician (or any other person with a brain) to agree on every position. In the real world, we have to choose between actual options, and I continue to believe Obama is the clear choice for the kind of changes we need in America.

By: Speed Limit

Speed Limit — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:29:31 +0000

The title said it all – Obama disappoints and will disappoint everyone who wants change.

By: David Giacalone

David Giacalone — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:12:02 +0000

John, Thanks for commenting, but your arguments sound more like excuses than explanations or justifications for continuing to allow drivers to waste fuel and drive up overall demand and prices.

The existing design of our highways is surely no reason to avoid a better energy policy. [It's sort of like saying we shouldn't have noise regulation in our neighborhoods because people all own high-powered sound systems.] The failure to improve fleet fuel mileage when we had a 55 MPH law seems unrelated to the benefits of the lower speed limit. We surely should continue to improve CAFE (even though changing the overall efficiency of the American vehicle fleet is a very slow process, especially when fuel costs leave so many without the disposable income needed to buy a new car). However, refusing to pursue more efficient speed limits at the same time suggests a lack of serious commitment to reducing overall demand — it says, “don’t ask me to change my habits”.

I’d love to see the source for your 0.18 statistic from NAS; it is far below all recent numbers that I’ve seen. 18% sounds more realistic.

By: John

John — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:50:19 +0000

I am glad that Obama has taken that stand. It is okay to slow down to save gas. I have done it a little myself, but to suggest that we post a speed limit 30 mph below the design speed of our roads is absurd. In the best times for 55 between 1974-1980, fleet fuel mileage did not improve significantly. In addition the National Academy of Sciences estimated that raising the speed limit to 65 mph would increase fuel consumption by around 0.18 percent. The 55 mph speed limit was a total and complete failure. CAFE did a lot more to raise national fuel scores.

By: ed markowski

ed markowski — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:44:51 +0000

as difficult as this is to say considering my loathing of almost all things republican, if any team can botch a sure victory, the
dc donkeys (asses) certainly can.

election season
in the senator’s lapel
a wilted rose

By: David Giacalone

David Giacalone — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:49:49 +0000

Hi, Anne. As I was saying, it always takes a bit of political courage to ask the American public to sacrifice a little. Some Montanans might actually admire a bit of Obamian courage.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:40:51 +0000

At the risk of stating the obvious, Sen. Warner is not running for anything; this is his last term (tho in fairness & admiration, he’s never really let “what people think” get to him much).

Sen. Obama, otoh…not only is he running for President, he’s also spending the day in Montana! Driving 55 would be the Willie Horton of the Big Sky State.

By: David Giacalone

David Giacalone — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:55:27 +0000

Hi, Gideon, Thanks for taking the time to Comment -- and for checking out this site so often. (Sloth severely limits my own web surfing, even though I know I'm missing a lot by not getting to your weblog.) It's great to know you've been slowing down and getting results. I'm not sure where to look for more specific information, beyond the links in my prior post, especially all those at HowStuffWorks. P.S. And thanks for pointing to f/k/a's piece this week on Driving While Phoning.

By: Gideon

Gideon — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:03:10 +0000

David,

Thanks for posting about this issue again. In fact, it was one of your prior posts (can’t remember which) that reminded me to drive slower to achieve more fuel-efficiency.

I have now trained myself to drive between 60 and 67 miles per hour and I have already seen a resultant increase in gas mileage. Whenever I catch myself going faster, it really is no problem for me to slow down and move to another lane.

I’ve seen my “combined” mileage go from around 24 to around 26mpg.

I’m trying to find some studies or reports on how efficient it really is to slow down and drive in the 60-65 range.

It really infuriates me when I see cars speeding by at 80mph. I’m essentially paying for them to speed.