75 mph up north, the world didn't end (Turner: gated, dangerous)

[mainebrokerman]

55 saves lives- that was a slogan that was pushed hard years ago


Most of the cars are much smaller today than 25 yrs ago-yet at 55 mph it still feels like 25 mph on the highway

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

55 saves lives- that was a slogan that was pushed hard years ago

Originally, the push for 55 was begun during the "gas crunch" in the '70s. Prices were skyrocketing, long lines at gas stations, etc. The price of gasoline went from about 13 cents (IIRC) to over a dollar in less than a decade. The "arrive alive" ad campaign came later.

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Originally, the push for 55 was begun during the "gas crunch" in the '70s. Prices were skyrocketing, long lines at gas stations, etc. The price of gasoline went from about 13 cents (IIRC) to over a dollar in less than a decade. The "arrive alive" ad campaign came later.

Wish we had the "gas crunch" prices now. $0.97 to $1.15 sound pertty good about now.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by retiredtinbender

Wish we had the "gas crunch" prices now. $0.97 to $1.15 sound pertty good about now.

I was thinking the other day...remembering when I was in TX in 1980, I had a 1970 AMC Ambassador SST- 360 V-8 with a 4bbl carb (you could just about *see* the gas guage dropping when you put your foot into it) and I was furious when the price of gas hit $1.25...now I would be ecstatic to see it at that price.

75 up north...watch out for moose...one of my drivers nailed one the other day, messed up a van pretty badly...the moose walked away...left antlers in the van (through the windshield).

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Originally, the push for 55 was begun during the "gas crunch" in the '70s. Prices were skyrocketing, long lines at gas stations, etc. The price of gasoline went from about 13 cents (IIRC) to over a dollar in less than a decade. The "arrive alive" ad campaign came later.

I worked my way through college at a service station in Bangor in the late '60s, early '70s, and remember selling gas for 25 cents a gallon during the "gas wars" that used to break out occasionally. Those were also the days when you could collect a full set of glassware or china as premiums, a piece for every fill-up.

Then the energy crisis hit in 1973 when OPEC stopped shipping to the U.S. because of our support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. I was in the service by then and was outraged at paying 50 cents a gallon for gas -- when I could find it. It got up a dollar pretty quick, by the end of the decade, when the second energy crisis hit during the fall of the Shah and Iran-Iraq War.

Yeah, the "55 saves lives" campaign started after Congress dropped the national speed limit to 55 in late 1973. I was in the Midwest at the time and it stretched my drive-time to Maine into two full days. In the summer of '73 I drove 1,730 miles in 24 hours flat -- average speed 72 mph! Afterwards, I always had to stop to spend the night somewhere, couldn't drive it straight through anymore.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Originally, the push for 55 was begun during the "gas crunch" in the '70s. Prices were skyrocketing, long lines at gas stations, etc. The price of gasoline went from about 13 cents (IIRC) to over a dollar in less than a decade. The "arrive alive" ad campaign came later.

The 55 speed limit was only supposed to last for 1 year in 1974 - that's how it was pushed thru. After local police and insurance companies saw their profits increase due to more speeding tickets being issued, the propaganda for keeping the 55 limit increased. Since the 55 limit was abolished in the mid-1990s, US traffic fatalies have continued to decline. It seems Americans are "arriving alive" by driving at higher speeds. So much for the "speed kills" nonsense.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by ram2

The 55 speed limit was only supposed to last for 1 year in 1974 - that's how it was pushed thru. After local police and insurance companies saw their profits increase due to more speeding tickets being issued, the propaganda for keeping the 55 limit increased. Since the 55 limit was abolished in the mid-1990s, US traffic fatalies have continued to decline. It seems Americans are "arriving alive" by driving at higher speeds. So much for the "speed kills" nonsense.

Speed did kill before the double-nickel national limit was passed. Highway deaths climbed sharply throughout the 1960s as cars got bigger engines and people drove faster, and they peaked at 54,589 in 1972. The death toll dropped off a cliff after the law went into effect, plus I suspect people were driving less due to the high price of gasoline. Safer cars, seat belts, and tougher drunk driving laws have kept the death count more or less on the decline ever since. By 2010 the death rate had dropped to the lowest since 1949, even though Americans were driving many millions of more miles.

I don't recall that there was a one-year time limit on the new speed limit.

There's a good chart at Highway deaths lowest level since 1949 - US news - Life - msnbc.com

And another at List of motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that shows deaths per million vehicle miles driven that is really quite extraordinary.

[beltrams]

Originally Posted by ram2

The 55 speed limit was only supposed to last for 1 year in 1974 - that's how it was pushed thru. After local police and insurance companies saw their profits increase due to more speeding tickets being issued, the propaganda for keeping the 55 limit increased. Since the 55 limit was abolished in the mid-1990s, US traffic fatalities have continued to decline. It seems Americans are "arriving alive" by driving at higher speeds. So much for the "speed kills" nonsense.

There's SO much more going on in the area of automobile deaths than the interstate speed limit. I like going fast as much as anybody, but to say that the higher speed limits and reduced death rate go hand in hand is to ignore so many other factors and play pretty loose with statistics just as the pro-55 folk played loose with statistics when the death rate dropped in the mid to late 1970s due to seat belts, better roads, and so on, all while the 55 limit was still in effect. There have been endless studies about highway speed limits and fatalities and no conclusive correlation either positive or negative has been shown in the the aggregate.

The 55 limit as embodied in the National Maximum Speed Law - the NMSL, was actually lifted by Reagan in 1987 to 65mph at states' discretion in rural areas (defined as outside of municipalities with less than 50,000 population.) What happened in the 90s (1995) is that the NMSL was abolished at the federal DOT level outright and near total control was given back to the states.

Previous to the 55 limit, several states, in the weeks ahead of the national law's emergency passing, actually had put in place 50 mph limits(!)

Maine used to have a 55 mph night time limit I think it was....The previous owner of my house left an old nighttime speed limit sign in the barn....pretty sure it was 55...I'll have to look....I saved it. It's a pretty funky white lettering on black background rather than the usual black on white. 'Can't recall now just when that night time limit was abolished. Some other states still have night time limits.

Interesting reading on states' speed limits. 'Not sure it's totally accurate, given the multitude of facts there, and given the way Wikipedia is. Still, it's interesting: Speed limits in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Coaster

Speed did kill before the double-nickel national limit was passed. Highway deaths climbed sharply throughout the 1960s as cars got bigger engines and people drove faster, and they peaked at 54,589 in 1972. The death toll dropped off a cliff after the law went into effect, plus I suspect people were driving less due to the high price of gasoline. Safer cars, seat belts, and tougher drunk driving laws have kept the death count more or less on the decline ever since. By 2010 the death rate had dropped to the lowest since 1949, even though Americans were driving many millions of more miles.

I don't recall that there was a one-year time limit on the new speed limit.

There's a good chart at Highway deaths lowest level since 1949 - US news - Life - msnbc.com

And another at List of motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that shows deaths per million vehicle miles driven that is really quite extraordinary.

People could not drive because they could not buy gas - of course the death toll declined.

The 55 limit was temporary in 1974 and made permanent in 1975. However, many state laws continued to maintain the 55 limit as temporary. For example, New Hampshire had an "absolute" maximum speed limit of 70mph during the 55 years.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by beltrams

There's SO much more going on in the area of automobile deaths than the interstate speed limit. .

The 55 limit as embodied in the National Maximum Speed Law - the NMSL, was actually lifted by Reagan in 1987 to 65mph at states' discretion in rural areas (defined as outside of municipalities with less than 50,000 population.) What happened in the 90s (1995) is that the NMSL was abolished at the federal DOT level outright and near total control was given back to the states.

The 55 limit affected more than freeways. Many states have 60+ mph speed limits on 2 lane roads now as was also the case pre-1974.