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I started driving in the 80s when this was already the law. What were your feeling about this law when it was first passed? What were your feelings when it went away?
I was born in 1980 so the 55mph speed limit was standard for me until it was repealed. I remember seat belts not being required, cars with poor crash survivability, heavily polluting tailpipes, and catastrophically poorly designed cars. By the time it went away you had stricter crash safety testing, airbags (SRS), seat belt requirements, more efficient powertrains, and a relative dip in oil prices.
In my metro area of Orange County, Ca it is pretty rare that you can drive over 65mph on the freeways given the traffic congestion, but when the freeways are clear between the hours of 8pm-6am it is nice to go faster. The same can be said about the open highways...a cross country road trip at 55mph would be mind-numbing for me.
I thought it was stupid. I pretty much ignored it.
Shortly after they first passed it, several guys in New York went out on the freeway and drove 55mph. It caused a 4 hour traffic jam. They struggled with what to ticket them for, and came up with impeding the free flow of traffic.
I did drive a bit slower. When the limit was 55 I usually drove 70, up to 80 if I was comfortable it was safe to do so (radar detectors were more effective back then). Now that it is 70, I usually drive 79. sometimes 85.
I do remember when I was commuting to school about 50 miles. We used a freeway that was known to have no law enforcement ever and most people drove around 80. It saved a lot of time. The law enforcement thing was the result of a dispute between various government agencies over who had to patrol it back then it was not seen as a revenue generating source, it was a burden. The result was no one patrolled it. However later a while some federal agency that monitored freeway speeds in various locations told that state if the speeds were not reduced on that freeway, their federal highway funding would be cut. This resulted in several months of heavy State police patrols and tickets. The average speed went down, the money came in and the patrols went away and the speed went back up.
Now a friend who commutes along that same stretch of freeway said he knows it is never patrolled, so he drives 100 when it is clear enough to do so. Of course today cars are more capable of cruising at 100. The car I had back then would have fallen apart if I tried to sustain that speed for 50 miles. It was capable of 130, but you could not sustain it.
I thought it was stupid. I pretty much ignored it.
Shortly after they first passed it, several guys in New York went out on the freeway and drove 55mph. It caused a 4 hour traffic jam. They struggled with what to ticket them for, and came up with impeding the free flow of traffic.
I did drive a bit slower. When the limit was 55 I usually drove 70, up to 80 if I was comfortable it was safe to do so (radar detectors were more effective back then). Now that it is 70, I usually drive 79. sometimes 85.
I do remember when I was commuting to school about 50 miles. We used a freeway that was known to have no law enforcement ever and most people drove around 80. It saved a lot of time. The law enforcement thing was the result of a dispute between various government agencies over who had to patrol it back then it was not seen as a revenue generating source, it was a burden. The result was no one patrolled it. However later a while some federal agency that monitored freeway speeds in various locations told that state if the speeds were not reduced on that freeway, their federal highway funding would be cut. This resulted in several months of heavy State police patrols and tickets. The average speed went down, the money came in and the patrols went away and the speed went back up.
Now a friend who commutes along that same stretch of freeway said he knows it is never patrolled, so he drives 100 when it is clear enough to do so. Of course today cars are more capable of cruising at 100. The car I had back then would have fallen apart if I tried to sustain that speed for 50 miles. It was capable of 130, but you could not sustain it.
Wouldn’t have tried it with my first two cars. First was a 1978 Camarillo with 250 cid in-line 6 with only 5 cylinders working, rear leaf springs, and the cheapest tires I could afford (bias ply). Second car was a 1984 Buick Skyhawk with OHV 2.0L engine, 4 speed manual, and rear torsion beam suspension.
I started driving in the 80s when this was already the law. What were your feeling about this law when it was first passed? What were your feelings when it went away?
I didn't have any feelings. I did have thoughts. Stupid idea, it saved little and it created more scofflaws and more revenue for many, many ticket-printers. It was a politician's show with little effect on its stated mission.
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Originally Posted by victimofGM
I started driving in the 80s when this was already the law. What were your feeling about this law when it was first passed? What were your feelings when it went away?
Stupid, kneejerk law with endless stupid fallout like speedometers limited to 85. Counterproductive in just about every way imaginable. Very unlikely it saved any gas at all.
I thought it was too darn slow. I still do. People still do 70-75 on the Taconic State parkway, which still has a 55 MPH speed limit (I do 65 on it, it's too frigging narrow for me).
Lifting the limit has forced automakers to figure out ways to increase efficiency at the higher speeds, including reducing wind resistance and figuring out how to lower RPMs. We can actually start seein the effects of bits of racing technology in day-to-day life. Today's cars get better MPGs doing 70 then 80s cars did going 55. That's a good thing.
this about says it all. i was not quite driving age when the 55mph speed limit was instituted, and was happy when it was repealed.
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