Opinion Journal – July 7, 2006:
It’s another summer weekend, when millions of families pack up the minivan or SUV and hit the road. So this is also an apt moment to trumpet some good, and underreported, news: Driving on the highways is safer today than ever before.
In 2005, according to new data from the National Highway Safety Administration, the rate of injuries per mile traveled was lower than at any time since the Interstate Highway System was built 50 years ago. The fatality rate was the second lowest ever, just a tick higher than in 2004.
As a public policy matter, this steady decline is a vindication of the repeal of the 55 miles per hour federal speed limit law in 1995. That 1974 federal speed limit was arguably the most disobeyed and despised law since Prohibition.
We are often told, by nanny-state advocates, that such public goods as safety require a loss of liberty. In the case of speed limits and traffic deaths, that just isn’t so.
Of course none of these folks have ever driven in Oakland.
This is not a shock. It is the differential between the speeds of vehicles on the road that results in more accidents, not the speed itself. By raising the speed-limit, the differential became smaller.
The same “shocking” surprise in New Mexico when the state raised the exurban speed limit on Freeways to 75 mph — which was what most folks drove anyway. Little or no change in accident rates > varying towards a decrease.
Figure out how to keep lame judges from allowing DWI repeaters back on the road and you’ll have done something useful.
The “nanny-state” folks need to pass, “move the hell over” law(s). Get out of the fast lane playing self appointed Cop. Creating a backlog of folks doing stupid things to get around them. Seems to work on the Autobahn. 😉
One thing people often forget is that the death rate goes down because of advances in trauma medicine that allow people to survive crashes that they previously wouldn’t. Has absolutely nothing to do with speed limits.
But why would anyone WANT to drive in Oakland?
central coast –
There is a delightful German word for that phenomenon –
Ruckwaertsautoschlaenge
“Backwards car-snake” = a snake of cars, where the @$$hole is in the front.
umm, could it be that other ‘nanny state’ initiatives like airbags and seat-belt laws are responsible for the decline in highway fatalities?
There are two types of causation: political and actual.
Political Causation is – things I like result in goodness for everyone.
Actual Causation is – well, actual. Unbiased studies show X causes Y.
Op Ed pieces tend to be heavy into Political Causation.
Nanny state or not, It is a generally accepted physical fact that vehicles driving at 55 get better gas mileage than those driving 75. I would support a nationwide speed limit on that basis alone. Indeed, this precisely the reason that the Reagan administration repealled the speed limit to begin with. Some Texans used to drive around with a bumper sticker that said: “Freeze a Yankee, Drive 85!”
>Reagan administration repealled the speed limit
It was Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress that repealed it, signed into law by Bill Clinton.
Funny how I remember the speed limit being 65 on eastern interstate highways since the 80’s….
“It is a generally accepted physical fact that vehicles driving at 55 get better gas mileage than those driving 75. I would support a nationwide speed limit on that basis alone.”
By why stop there. It’s a “generally accepted physical fact ” that a vehicle driving 25 MPH gets better gas mileage from those driving 55. Heck, vehicles going 5 MPH get better MPG than those driving 25. And I think we all agree that not driving at all saves the most gas.
Thus, would support you a nationwide ban on all vehicles on that basis alone?
If I was king no vehicle would be allowed over fifty mph, anyone caught operating or modifying a vehicle to exceed fifty mph would be executed on the spot, no private vehicles would be allowed on any interstate, everyone would use mass transit for either intra or inter city travel and private vehicles would be banned from the inner cities.
And nothing anyone says here can match the abuse I’ve already received from my co-workers when I voice these thoughts. One of the hats I wear is that of safety director for a small trucking company, and these cowboys don’t like to hear this sort of thing.
By why stop there. It’s a “generally accepted physical fact ” that a vehicle driving 25 MPH gets better gas mileage from those driving 55. Heck, vehicles going 5 MPH get better MPG than those driving 25. And I think we all agree that not driving at all saves the most gas.
Don’t be silly. I was just pointing out that the argument for a lower speed limit is about gas consumption NOT safety. Besides, I’d rather have a law that says every car should get 40mpg no matter what speed it drives.
Contrary to #11, it is not true that driving slower than 55 MPH will save fuel. There are lots of variables, but generally speaking cruising at 55 MPH will take less fuel to travel a set distance than if you travelled the same distance at 75 or at 35.
Kent, AB CD –
Actually, there were two separate changes to the national speed limits.
The change under Reagan allowed states to raise their limits to 65 mph on “rural interstates” – but the feds had a very strict definition of what was meant by a “rural interstate”.
The change under Clinton/Gingrich abolished the national speed limit entirely.
Some people mistakenly blame Carter for the Double-Nickel, but it was actually passed under the Nixon administration.
Kent –
Are you claiming that the Reagan administration raised the national speed limit in order to encourage people to use more gas? That’s ridiculous.
I’m all for increasing the speed limit. Get rid of it all together. First and foremost, temper this with annual driving tests, and ARREST the stupid bastards who insist on driving in the passing lane at the speed limit.
Why arrest them. My good fellow, that is why God gave us the 357 Magnum. Just remember, at 80 MPH, you need to give a little windage to hit your target. And driving tests? What on earth for. To test how well you can balance a tall can of suds between your legs? Sh*t man, what if they think you are supposed to use the turn signal or slow down in a school zone. None of us would ever pass.
#14: Some years ago, while living in Reno, I bought a car in Vegas. Flew down to drive it back. It had a display which showed you the estimated milage based on fuel flow. On the drive, there were sections where I was doing 60-65 and getting about 25-26 mpg. On the sections where I was doing 80-90, I was getting 31-32 mpg. The difference? In a different gear which, by the tach, indicated I was reving slower at the higher speed. Just one of the factors.
We had the same thing in Arizona Ed…..they raised the outside of the urban area speed limit to 75 and it was great. The only real problem was California drivers and illegals and recent green card holders not being used to the higher speeds.
Frank, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting. The national 55 mph speed limit AND the 40 mpg standard were both abandoned by the Reagan administration at the bidding of large contributors in the Texas oil business. These same men are still driving energy policy today.
generally speaking cruising at 55 MPH will take less fuel to travel a set distance than if you travelled the same distance at 75 or at 35.
Generally speaking, you shouldn’t make a sweeping generalization like that.
a display which showed you the estimated milage based on fuel flow
I used to have one of those (which I installed myself) in my old Chevy Vega. (whee!) I have believed since then that the VERY best way to decrease nationwide fuel consumption is to mandate a MPG gauge into every car sold in the US. You wouldn’t even need those bogus EPA mileage figures any more… just take a test drive and see for yourself. I’m not in favor of passing laws to solve problems, but if laws are getting passed by the bucketload anyway, let’s at least create a few that do some good, and with modern fuel injected cars and sophisticated ECM, you get this info for free anyway, since the computer already knows how fast you’re going and how much fuel it’s injecting into the engine.
The national 55 mph speed limit AND the 40 mpg standard were both abandoned by the Reagan administration at the bidding of large contributors in the Texas oil business.
I don’t doubt that they greased some palms or lip whipped a johnson here and there, but as someone else noted, the 55 was DESPISED UNIVERSALLY, and with respect to effective methods of saving fuel, it’s way down toward the bottom of the list.
The only problem with these statistics is that they fail to factor in the natural drop in fatality rates that occur with improvements in vehicle safety over the years… Thus, even if speeds had stayed the same, there would be a drop in fatality rates- perhaps even more so…
The only problem with these statistics is that they fail to factor in the natural drop in fatality rates that occur with improvements in vehicle safety over the years
Do you mean things like cup holders for your beer? Or power windows to spit your chaw?
never mind that simply complying with the speedlimits (you know, obeying the law) would also lower fatalities…