05-20-2008, 03:54 PM
[quote olnacl]I'd welcome a 55 mph limit again. I didn't care much for it back in the 70's though.
Yup .. saving fuel was the whole purpose of the 55mph limit way back when. 55 was a good compromise between getting along and getting economy. In Europe at least, trucks have a lower limit than cars and on motorways aka highways they tend to travel at about 55 (90/95kmh) so if you want to do a fuel saving trip, its easy just to sit behind a truck and put your brain in to park
... On the other hand the "Beemers" screaming by at 85mph are just the normal traffic here in Germany if it is flowing nicely (big if) -- actually the "normal" highway speed is today is probably a bit higher than that ... 90mph. The fast traffic is going by at between 110 to 125mph and the "screamers" are doing closer to 140mph.. But the average speed for the trip will be way lower as you need to spend a lot time and money re-fuelling when you do that stuff. Lane discipline is reasonable and the regulations (different rules from the US afaik) are enforced so "rear-ending" is much less likely.
Yup .. saving fuel was the whole purpose of the 55mph limit way back when. 55 was a good compromise between getting along and getting economy. In Europe at least, trucks have a lower limit than cars and on motorways aka highways they tend to travel at about 55 (90/95kmh) so if you want to do a fuel saving trip, its easy just to sit behind a truck and put your brain in to park
... On the other hand the "Beemers" screaming by at 85mph are just the normal traffic here in Germany if it is flowing nicely (big if) -- actually the "normal" highway speed is today is probably a bit higher than that ... 90mph. The fast traffic is going by at between 110 to 125mph and the "screamers" are doing closer to 140mph.. But the average speed for the trip will be way lower as you need to spend a lot time and money re-fuelling when you do that stuff. Lane discipline is reasonable and the regulations (different rules from the US afaik) are enforced so "rear-ending" is much less likely.