Speed Reduction - 55 MPH Limit

[WeeAsp]

Originally Posted by MisterJohnson

Gotta disagree on this one point, but everything else you said was right on.

The Constitution was put in place to spell out how the government should be run and to restrict government. It was not to grant our individual rights and freedoms. I'm free to walk down the street, but the Constitution doesn't say I have that right. Same thing with driving or riding a horse.

All due respect, but this is an INCORRECT statement.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution grant you several rights.

The right to freedom of religion

The right to bear arms

The right to assemble

The right to free speech

The right to protection against illegal search and seizure

and on down the line.

My point here not to provide a civics lesson. You are correct in the sense that you are not guaranteed the ability to walk down the street, ride a horse, or even drive a car. As Viney indicated, that's up to the States.

To your point, the Constitution provides basic rights AND a framework for a national governing body.

The laws that the states create cannot conflict with and are superceded by Federal law. For example, the state of Kentucky can't amputate someone's hand for stealing because it is conflict with the Constitution gauranteeing protection from cruel and unusual punishment.

OK, back on topic.

Drilling in Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico. Good idea or bad idea doesn't enter into the current equation. If the ban was lifted tomorrow, it would be TEN YEARS before any relief was felt.

As I said before, I am not in favor of a 55MPH speed limit, but at the same time you have to pay to play. The gas crunch we are feeling right now was brought upon us by ourselves and our behavior.

That simple.

[Brindfan]

Dammit! Why didn't this show up when I did a search???

[LongDongStud]

if the reason was to save lives then maybe i would give it some thought (but i still would not agree) but to save gas is bullshit, bottem line is that fuel is going to run dry no matter what we do, why pospone it? why stop the fun i have driving fast?

[fishbone]

Originally Posted by Muhaha2

Agreed. Why not just make a GAS SAVERS LANE? u can granny drive all u want on the GAS SAVERS LANE lol.

Supposebly we already have that, it's called the first travel lane. What needs to happen is cops issuing more tickets to those that travel in the passing lane, going at or under the speed limit. This is already happening in some states, it should happen in more or all, imho.

For those of you that voted YES to this bill, I am going to assume you're concerned about the gas situation [like the rest of us] and you voted for that reason. Your problem is one of myopia. You think you should make it mandatory for all to drive at 55mph, instead of giving people the freedom of choice to drive 55, 60, 65 or higher where applicable. The myopia lies in the fact that you still have gas-guzzling SUVs traveling at said 55mph that still get WORSE mileage than a Corolla going 70.

So what's next, in your opinion? Ban SUVs? I would lose no sleep if that were to happen from an SUV point of view, but damn if I'll stand for it from a rights point of view.

Let it be my choice how I drive. If I want to get good mileage then I can drive 10mph under the limit, stay out of boost and get 28mpg. If I have to be somewhere then I'll drive the speed limit or the tolerated 5mph over and suck up the 24mpg.

[Lolly]

^^^ well spoken.

[fishbone]

You know, with the recent sentiment ever since such events as 9/11 and the war in Iraq, one could actually argue
"every time you gun it, you put money in Arab pockets"
or
"drive slow, help us lessen our dependency on foreign oil"
or
"be a patriot. drive 20mph"

[MisterJohnson]

^How about;
"Be a patriot, drill here"

It's easy to sit on your @$$ and blame the oil companies, how about calling on Congress to repeal it's un-American restrictions on gathering U.S. oil?

As I said before, we have more oil in Alaska alone than Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Venezuela have combined.

Plus there are the capped oil wells all over the midwest that have oil just sitting there, but we aren't allowed to get it.

I'm not going to change my habits. Congress needs to change theirs.

[TKE_Quailman]

The pricice of oil is 30- 40% specualtion

In theory if like 5 countrys tommorow came out saying they have found huge oil reserves that would last 100 years and would take steps imediately to start dilling and refining gas prices would come crashing down.

[bluefront]

SUVs and other gas-guzzlers are being phased out right now, sitting, rusting on dealer's lots all over. They virtually can't give them away. All because of the gas prices right now, and the prospect of higher and higher prices in the immediate future.....

That problem is solving itself with no new laws. But we still have the problem of the guzzlers out there right now......doing 75mph @ 12mpg. They could get a maybe 15-20% improvement on their mileage if the national speed limit was enforced at 55mph.

That would help the gas situation. Right now we're doing nothing. No new drilling, with people still driving like gas was .69 cents. Stupid.

[SonicBlues]

Originally Posted by Muhaha2

Agreed. Why not just make a GAS SAVERS LANE? u can granny drive all u want on the GAS SAVERS LANE lol.

amen just allow them to use something like the hov lane......granny uses the slow lane i use the hammer lane

Originally Posted by warneej

there is no shortage of gas, nor have the arabs raised the price of gas substantially in the past year...

the price gouging is due to people playing the market...check forbes.com for info

amen to that as well....we have the oil just not enough refineries

if they did apply this horseshit of a law i can say good bye to using my 6th gear anymore