WAAAY OT: Just a little rant...55 mph speed limit?

Come on. What's up with this retarded senator that thinks lowering the national speed limits on the highways to 55 mph like "back in the day" is going to save gas? I haven't heard people thinking past the fact that slowing down MAY save some gas. I say MAY because modern cars aren't made to be efficient at 50-55 mph like back in the 70s and 80s. The VAST majority of the US interstate system outside of cities is 65+ mph. Heck, I've seen as high as 80 mph back home in Arizona. I know I get better gas mileage at 70-75 than I do at 55-60.

I haven't heard anyone address the issue of a simple little equation. Rate X Time = Distance. Um, what's so hard to understand that if distance is to remain constant (same destination), if rate/speed goes down, the time MUST go up a corresponding amount to balance the equation? So, IF you save a little gas by slowing down it's negated (or more than negated) because you spend more TIME in the car burning gas over a LONGER period at a potentially LESS efficient speed. So, if my 80 drops to 55 in Az, that's a 31.25% decrease in speed and my drive time is that much longer. So my three hour trip would now take me almost an HOUR longer (0.94 of an hour to be exact). Yeah, that extra hour is really going to save me gas in the AZ summer with the A/C going full blast versus arriving an hour earlier. :roll:

I also view this as nothing more than creating a nation of pissed off drivers. It would now take forever to get anywhere and would most likely to cause the roads to become even more unsafe. There's going to be tons of people that will still drive 70, 80, etc and lowering the speed limit creates a much higher speed differential. This would cause even more road rage since so many are already frustrated and pissed off with their lives. Also, coming up on someone at 55 by surprise at 80 mph could mean the difference between a near miss and a potentially serious collision because that much more speed has to be scrubbed off in an instant.

Another thing that will hit this already crappy economy is how it would affect the long haul truckers. Everything from the crap we buy at China-Mart to the food we eat will cost even more. I don't know how those big diesel engines work, but if it's like my car analogy, they'll burn even more fuel by going slower. At the very least, it will seriously lengthen delivery times, especially for the coast to coast runs. I bet it would add days. That means more overnight stops, food and supplies for the driver and we all know an increase in operating costs ALWAYS gets passed on to the end user, i.e. the consumer. That is all. Thank you for letting me vent now flame away!