OK, what in the heck are these people thinking?? I read the newspaper this morning, and they are attempting to (or already have) legislate an increase in the speed limit in the west Texas interstates to 80MPH.

At the present time, I think my biggest pet peeve (other than the high price of fuel) is people that gripe and complain about the price they are paying at the pump, and then speed.

I know that driving my truck at over 68MPH decreases my fuel economy, and I've proven to my wife that it does in her 4.7 Dakota as well. When she was stationed in Miamia, she was complaining that she could barely get 16MPG while driving down there. She moved/transferred back up here and I have her driving under 70 and amazingly, she is now getting about 18.5MPG or so.

The same article stated that for each 5MPH over 60MPH (or was it 65?) that it is like raising the price of a gallon of gas 20 cents.

How can ANYONE justify driving 80MPH? Don't get me wrong, when I was younger, I would speed all the time. But now I know what my income/outgo is, and I know I can't 'afford' to drive that fast, jack-rabbit starts/stops, or any of those other poor driving habits.

After reading articles like this, I think some people deserve to be paying $5 a gallon for few, just to slow them down.

 

I guess I'm one of those people
I tend to drive at rediculuss (sp) speeds, but I have yet to go under 18.5MPG
I'll admitt that if I stay 65-70 I get 21-22MPG but who has time for that

Michael

 

The speed limit on West Texas sections of I-10 and I-20 is 75 MPH now. This is relatively common in the Western states of the U.S. where population and traffic density are low and distances to anywhere are long. The article also said that the median speed on these 75 MPH sections of Interstate is already 79 MPH.

I grew up in West Texas and know the roads and distances between towns in the areas where this 80 MPH speed limit would apply. Based upon that, I have no problem with it in principle. If I choose to drive less than 80 MPH to save fuel, that becomes my choice.

Rusty

 

i agree to an extent....but you have to keep in mind, thats the speed LIMIT. doesnt mean you HAVE to drive that fast. if i had an economy car that got 40 mpg, id prob be willing to sacrifice a few mpg to get there faster. i know some spots out in west texas and new mexico that theres NOTHING out there and it seems to take forever to get through em. in my truck now, i rarely drive over 65....but i admit, itd be nice to have that higher ceiling when ur going a long ways have have more fuel to burn than you do time to burn.....

 

Ditto.

~Rob

 

They are just setting the speed limit to what it has always been driven even before the 75mph limit. I set my cruise control 1-2mph above the 70/75 limit and still get passed on a constant basis. Most are just running between 5 to 10mph over to keep the likelyhood and price of speeding tickets down . But, some drive like they ARE the highway patrol no matter what the posted limit is... Those types don't care about fuel savings!
My CTD mileage starts to stink quickly whenever I get above 75 anyways.. (~21@72mph/2000rpm)
Back when "55" was the law, it took For-EV-er to get across Texas at that speed.. That was maddening!...Stuck plodding along at 55mph in West Texas on highways designed for 85mph+.


K.

 

Excuse me for saying this, but that sounds very much like typical American arrogance.

And don't get my wrong Rusty, I am not attacking you specifically.

But in general, we consume more of the worlds natural resources than other country with our population density. We, myself included, tend to scream and shout when feel we are being cheated or slighted. But we are also the country with the highest ratio of cars to citizens, and the poorest mass transit systems. Then we make comments like "If I want to save fuel, it will be by my choice".

And when fuel prices are going through the roof, and people screaming the entire time, they are going to 'justify' people already speeding by increasing the speed limit even more? Which, as we all ready know, increases fuel consumption.

Times like this, I agree with the rest of the world. We really are arrogant and self-serving.

 

I was around in the 1970s. I fully well remember when the 55 MPH speed limit was imposed and the lines at the gas stations. The lesson learned was that price controls and artificially low speed limits don't work. If that makes me arrogant and self-serving, so be it.

Rusty

 

Well, they ARE entitled to their opinion...

K.

 

I don't have a huge calculator in front of me... When do you use more fuel, driving 55 for 8 hours or 80 for for 6 hours???????? Who knows.... I would just hate to hit a deer at 80mph I do know that....

 

As was I. I remember the gas lines, and the prices which are effectively the same as they are to day.

Artificially low? Define that for me please.

Low, as in a range that has proven to be more fuel economical, yes. You intellectually know as well as I do that that slowing down safes fuel.

Rusty, as I said before, I am not after you personally.

It's just that this country seems to be cutting off it's nose, to spite it's face.

 

Using simple math, and using some of the claimed economy numbers from this site, you would use 15 gallons going 300 miles going 65MPH, in 4.6 hours.

Increasing your spead to 80MPH, increases your fuel consumption by 2.2 gallons, and only reduces your time to 3.7 hours.

So, you only save about 54 minutes. Using distance as a measure, you find out you use more fuel.

 

Then would you like to impose a national 35 MPH speed limit? Artificially low, right? Well, then, how about 40 MPH? 45 MPH? What do YOU define as artificially low and what do you define as reasonable? Remember, this is West Texas - if you haven't driven through there, then defining what is "reasonable" may be somewhat of a challenge.

While you're defining what is best for us Texans, remember that there were real costs involved with the 55 MPH speed limit in increased transit time of goods, etc.

Rusty

 

Let's play with your numbers for a second - I won't even challenge them. 2.2 gallons @ $3.00/gallon = $6.60 spent to arrive 0.9 hour earlier. $6.60 / 0.9 hour = $7.33/hour. Now, is it my right to decide whether my time is worth more than $7.33/hour, or is the government going to make that decision for me?

Rusty

 

Here are some numbers for you.

55 MPH at an economy of 21 MPG for 8 hours is 20.9 gallons of diesel
80 MPH at an economy of 17 MPG for 6 hours is 28.2 gallons of diesel

Thats what I was getting with my truck at those speeds.