Financial benefits of a national 55 mph speed limit
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Wednesday, 03 September 2008 |
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In 1974 the 55 MPH national speed limit was enacted as an emergency measure to reduce our dependence on imported crude oil that totaled about 36% of U.S. consumption. It worked and 1985 marked a record low of less than 28% imported oil. About this same time Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive Fifty Five" was made popular and in 1987 congress relaxed the law to allow 65 MPH on Rural Highways. Consumption of imported oil began to skyrocket but nonetheless in 1996 the national 55 MPH speed limit was repealed and 12 years later, in 2008, U.S. dependence on imported oil has more than doubled to over 60%. The top 5 sources of imported oil, in order, are Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria. On August 31, 2008, Sammy Hagar helped kick off the Republican National Convention by performing his old hit.
Click to enlarge graphic.
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Monday, 01 September 2008 |
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The amount of energy saved as a result of drivers observing ALL speed limits and never exceeding 55 MPH will increase over time as the vehicle fleet of large units is replaced by smaller "downsized" models. While slowing down reduces energy consumption for all vehicles, smaller vehicles fuel economy suffers more at high speeds than larger vehicles do. In fact, as the following chart shows, at speeds over 70 MPH a small vehicle will use nearly as much energy as larger ones, negating the benefits of its smaller size and weight!
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Monday, 21 July 2008 |
A truckload shipped 825 miles would take an extra 4 hours if the drivers kept their speed at 55 rather than 75 MPH, but the energy cost would be reduced by 30%! At $5 gallon for diesel, the savings are about $240 per truckload!
"Excessive speed is the largest single factor in reduced fuel mileage. A general rule of thumb is that every mph increase above 50 mph reduces fuel mileage by 0.1 mpg."
Kenworth White Paper on Fuel Economy, March 2006.
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Wednesday, 09 July 2008 |
When evaluating the value of time vs speed we must first recognize that as concerns energy consumption, the optimum speed for cars is about 35-45 MPH. After this peak, efficiency falls off rapidly and a law of physics called "drag" states the power (energy) required is quadrupled when speed is doubled. This means the faster you go, the more you waste. A 55 MPH speed limit is a compromise between speed and efficiency.
The argument that the time saved justifies additional cost because of lost earnings fails for the following reasons:
First off, who gets paid for driving to work? But let's play along anyway to see where this goes.
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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The power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag is given by:
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Note that the power needed to push an object through a fluid
increases as the cube of the velocity. A car cruising on a highway at
50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower
(7.5 kW) to overcome air drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h)
requires 80 hp (60 kW). With a doubling of speed the drag (force)
quadruples per the formula. Exerting four times the force over a fixed
distance produces four times as much work.
At twice the speed the work (resulting in displacement over a fixed
distance) is done twice as fast. Since power is the rate of doing work,
four times the work done in half the time requires eight times the
power.
Source: Wikipedia
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Wednesday, 12 September 2007 |
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A recent report says the average car payment has jumped to $514(1) per month, or $6,168 per year, much of which is interest, on a rapidly depreciating asset.
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Wednesday, 12 September 2007 |
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled last week the new fuel economy sticker for the windows of new cars and light trucks. While most changes to the sticker are cosmetic—adding the combined fuel economy and displaying the estimated annual fuel cost more prominently—the numbers used in the sticker have changed significantly.
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Sometimes people like to point out that there are no speed limits on German autobahns as part of their argument against speed limits here. The following excerpt from HowToGermany.com clears this up nicely:
Don't let the high speeds on German roads fool you into believing that there are no reduced speed zones. Usually, speeders will not be stopped at the time of the offense but will get a speeding ticket through the mail. This may be as long as two or three months after the incident. The German police use special cameras to catch speeders. Persons exceeding the limits by more than 40 kilometers an hour can count on losing licenses for a period of up to three months, plus a stiff fine.
A tough, computerized point system is used to get dangerous drivers off the road. Increasingly strict penalties are the order of the day especially where drugs or alcohol are involved, and especially if there was an accident. Except where posted because of construction or traffic problems, there are no speed limits on the autobahns, although the recommended maximum is 130kph (about 80mph).
A mixture of slow-moving trucks and high-speed autos are on the same roads at the same time and defensive driving is a must. Autobahn chain-reaction pileups occur periodically, partly because of high speeds. The most common causes of accidents involving expatriates are failing to yield the right-of-way, following too closely and failure to maintain control. Accidents occurring at speeds of over 130 kph on the autobahns can result in insurance payment claims being annulled regardless of who was at fault.
The basic speed limit is 50kph (about 30mph) in built-up areas and 100kph (about 60mph) elsewhere. If you are hauling a trailer the speed limit is 80kph (50mph) on roads and autobahns.
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/driving.html
I'll repeat those last two lines because some people may have a hard time seeing them:
Accidents occurring at speeds of over 130 kph on the autobahns can result in insurance payment claims being annulled regardless of who was at fault.
The basic speed limit is 50kph (about 30mph) in built-up areas and 100kph (about 60mph) elsewhere. If you are hauling a trailer the speed limit is 80kph (50mph) on roads and autobahns.
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Tuesday, 17 April 2007 |
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Use this handy table to see how much time it will cost you to slow down and conserve fuel,
reduce pollution, save lives and disarm the petroleum warlords!
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Miles (km) to travel >
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10 (16km)
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15 (24km)
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20 (32km)
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25 (40km)
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30 (48km)
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35 (56km)
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40 (64km)
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45 (72km)
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50 (80km)
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55 (88km)
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60 (95km)
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| Minutes @ 55 MPH (88km) |
11
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16
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22
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27
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33
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38
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44
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49
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55
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60
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65
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Minutes @ 65 MPH (104km)
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9
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14
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18
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23
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28
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32
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37
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42
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46
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51
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55
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Savings (minutes)
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1.68
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2.52
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3.36
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4.20
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5.03
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5.87
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6.71
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7.55
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8.39
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9.23
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10.0
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Research shows that most people commute about 30 miles (48 km) to work each day.
Can you spare 5 minutes to conserve fuel, reduce pollution, save lives and
disarm the petroleum warlords?
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