I’m 55 years-old today. Man, that feels strange to write. Fifty five always seemed so, so old! Now, except for a few constant aches here and there, and a few more inches of belt required to keep up the ol’ trousers, it just seems — the same as ever. Of course that must be severe self-delusion — since my generation was prepared by the Left to never trust anyone over 30, I obviously have been lying to myself for the last two and a half decades so why would now be any different?

55 — the “double nickle” — the only thing that number ever meant to me was the abomination of the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act that in response to the 1973 Arab Oil Crisis placed a national speed limit of 55 miles-per-hour on all roads and highways in the U.S. that had previously been as high as 70-75 MPH with no speed limits in Montana and Nevada. Bummer, with a capital “B”! That ol’ inside-the-DC-beltway mindset prevailed long after the energy crisis was over, with the Washington bureaucrats and the Leftist safety-nannies all staking big political points on keeping America moving as slowly as they possibly could force it, they would have had us going even slower if possible. “Speed Kills” and “55 Saves Lives” don’t you know. Wait a sec on those, maybe not? Wikipedia wraps it up like this:

It was also believed that, based on a drop in fatalities the first year the limit was imposed, the 55 mph limit increased highway safety. Later studies were more mixed on this point, and available statistics show that the safety record actually worsened in the first few months of the 55 mph speed limit and further suggest the fatality drop was a short-lived anomaly that regressed to mean by 1978. After the oil crisis abated, the 55 mph speed limit was retained mainly due to the perceived safety aspect.

The 55 mph limit was unpopular, especially in western states that have long distances between cities or points of interest.

A United States Department of Transportation study found that the total fuel savings during the national speed limit was no more than 1% overall.

But, that was then and this is now. I’ll take comfort in the fact that one can now legally drive fast again — 70 on many of California’s Interstates and 75 in Nevada and also on rural Interstates in Oklahoma. It ain’t the Autobahun, but it is civilized. Literally, man-years of time was wasted by that silly law, time stolen that could never be replaced — all for virtually little to no benefit. Sounds like something only a Washington politician can really sink his/her teeth into now, doesn’t it?

Oh well, today I don’t care. “Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me” . . . heh! (db)

Technorati Tags: 55 MPH National Speed Limit, 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, 1973 Arab Oil Crisis

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 11th, 2007 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Okie on the Lam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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