National Speed Limit to save Gas? Wake Up!

Once again some politician thinks he can help alleviate the citizens pain of high fuel prices through legislation. Let’s all give him three cheers! Why didn’t we think to drive slower to save gas? How utterly shortsighted of us not to have seen this simple tactic on our own.

This guy is living in his own never-never land where he probably never has to pay for his own gas, is completely insulated from the fact that very few people heed the national speed limit already in place and then thinks just by passing legislation everyone will have more money in their pockets.

Senator John Warner, R-Virginia, come down out of your ivory tower and work on something meaningful like blocking all the money you guys give away to big oil, or forcing auto makers to build more fuel efficient vehicles, or forcing industrial polluters to stop polluting our environment.

The oil companies are getting all the record subsidies that you politicians can give them via our tax dollars in spite of their record profits and here you are attempting to show the voters that you are doing something to ease our pain from having to continue to feed these corporate fat cats at the gas pumps.

Studies show that when a 55 mph speed limit was imposed in 1974 the U.S. saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year. Despite these two very solid and perfectly good reasons for slowing down we Americans refuse to drive slower.

I don’t know about you senator, but I drive this nations freeways. I try to drive the speed limit and try to be as careful as possible because I accept the fact that when I am behind the wheel of an automobile I am responsible for the life and safety of not just my passengers but every vehicle around me as well. There are very few drivers like myself on the road. While driving the speed limit I get passed by people of all age groups. I am forced over to the right-most lane because I fear for my safety if I attempt to drive the speed limit in the number one lane, commonly referred to as ‘the fast lane’. People, there is no ‘fast lane’. The speed limit applies to every lane equally.

Senator, try driving on the freeways just before a holiday weekend and you will witness a mob mentality that takes over motorists and dictates that everyone should drive even more recklessly. For instance, yesterday afternoon July 3, just ahead of a three day weekend. People leaving work early, racing to get to their campsite or to just get home, everyone is in an even greater hurry than during the usual daily ‘rush hour’. The number of traffic accidents go up, tempers flair even more easily, middle fingers fly at the slightest provocation. And these are the people you think you can reach just by passing your silly legislation?

So pat yourself on the back senator for creating yet another ‘busy work’ study for the Energy Department to determine once again at what speeds vehicles would be most fuel efficient, how much fuel savings would be achieved, and whether it would be reasonable to assume there would be a reduction in prices at the pump if the speed limit were lowered.

The only thing that will get people to use less gas is to tax the hell out it. And with that extra tax money maybe more policemen could be put on our nations freeways to slow down those fools who will ignore a posted speed limit no matter what good intentioned reason for having it posted.