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By H. JOSEF HEBERT
WASHINGTON
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.
Warner asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.
Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.
As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.
Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.
"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.
Warner asked the department to determine 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.
Energy Department spokeswoman Angela Hill said the department will review Warner's letter but added, "If Congress is serious about addressing gasoline prices, they must take action on expanding domestic oil and natural gas production."
The department's Web site says that fuel efficiency decreases rapidly when traveling faster than 60 mph. Every additional 5 mph over that threshold is estimated to cost motorists "essentially an additional 30 cents per gallon in fuel costs," Warner said in his letter, citing the DOE data.
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Life's too short slow down!
If you knew how to drive safely then I wouldn't complain, but you don't. The 55 MPH is a good idea to save fuel and hopefully reduce traffic accidents. You weave in and out of traffic going 90 MPH, yack on your cell phone and don't pay any attention to what you are doing, and you drive right on the tail of the vehicle in front of you. Life's too short slow down!
Free-Market Capitalist Onboard!
Let each American drive according to his or her own wallet. The airlines are about to mothball 10% of their fleet by the end of this year anyway and the cost of building mass-transit in Southside Tidewater would equal just giving each passenger a Rolls Drophead Coupe instead. How's that for economic stimulus?
Yet
This is the same man that will vote against drilling for oil off the coast and in ANWAR. Although I supported him for years, this senile way of thinking shows it is a good time for him to go.
Slow Down to Save Fuel Voluntarily
I agree with previous posters who identified the risks to people who drive the speed limit, whatever it may be. We need better enforcement of aggressive driving laws, which should include tailgating. Insofar as changing all the speed limit signs again, I believe that would be a waste of money. What would be more helpful would be information about fuel economy for the different vehicle classes at normal driving speeds. An engineer told me that above 55 mph, wind resistance is pretty much "the decider," all else being equal (properly inflated tires, well tuned engine, etc.). With aggressive drivers kept on a short leash, those who wish to save money by driving at the most fuel efficient speed for their vehicles could do so without fear of tire tracks running up their backs. The deep-pocket folks can drive the legal limit until they max out their credit cards and can't buy more fossil fuel.
Farewell, John Warner
During the 30 years that John Warner has been in office, only 4 annual budgets were balanced.
When he took office 30 years ago, the national debt was $700 million. Today it's approaching $10 trillion.
During Warner's 30 years in the Senate, millions of illegal aliens were granted amnesty, and because he never led a charge to secure our borders, there are an estimated 20 million illegal aliens in the country which will have to be dealt with.
He recently supported cap and trade carbon credits. Voodoo policies to say the least.
And now he wants us to drive 55. Do I hear 35, like it was during WW II?
As he leaves office, many will say that Warner is a statesman. I say that John Warner is a self serving professional politician who played the "go along to get along" game for 30 years. The citizens of Virginia and the nation are not better off for his 30 years in the Senate.
Warner the Elder knows what's best for us lesser folk
After all, I'm not smart enough to choose whether to incur the marginal increase in cost in trade for the marginal savings of my time.
We common folk need the elite, like the aging Senator, to decide those things for us.
The marketplace already exacts a cost for wasting fuel, I am perfectly capable of weighing the costs and benefits on my own.
Would the elder Senator kindly sit down and shut up until time for his goodbye party? Even if Warner the Younger wins, it can't be any worse.
Sen Warner
Won't this man PLEASE retire? He's the textbook definition as to what's wrong with the Republican party.
guess
who donates radar equipment to "poor" municipalities??...insurance companies. You write the tickets and we raise the rates, a great "back scratch" deal.
My solution
Make the driver's test very difficult (in fact, weed out at least one-third of the current drivers)...then the remaining drivers will be tested on their ability to drive at different speeds. Those who can display their ability on the track, etc., at higher speed driving will be issued a different license and a plate that allows them to drive faster...others will have a sticker, etc., that indicates they must drive slower and remain in the right hand lane. Not all drivers are equal! Heck, the Germans know what they're doing...they always display lane discipline and can roll at higher speeds. Our problem is that we hand out driving licenses too easily...make it hard. And if you're one of those who just doesn't cut the mustard, then it's public transportation for you, too bad. Less traffic on the roads for those of us who do.
55mph
When has a Senator (or their driver)ever drove 55mph on the interstate coming and going from home to Richmond? Do they really think everyone on the interstate will drove 55 other than those who are on a cell phone? Sen. Warner is getting old with failing health so I guess we should only blame him for so much on.