How the U.S. could lower gas prices in one easy step!

[HighlandWarrior]

driving the speed limit! driving the speed limit uses less gas, using less gas means the reserves will go up!

Will this happen?
never!

Usually im the only schmuk going the speed limit...not really interested in rushing to work or school...

 

[Turner]

I don't drive much over the speed limit, maybe 5 to 7 mph. But that does translate to about 3mpg extra for me. Of course, I'm usually running late everywhere, so I tend to drive a bit over the limit.

This is on the highway. In the city, I generally do the limit.

 

[Bugfatty300]

i.e. bring back those nation wide 55 mph limits. Sounds like fun!

 

[taper]

This really depends. The speed limit is not set for optimal fuel consumption, it's set for safety. A car gets it's best mileage just after shifting into top gear. On my 94 Grand Prix, this is between 60-65, depending on headwinds. The previous shift is around 40, so driving 55 is actually poor on my mileage. So is 35. Manual trannies change this some, but not by too much.

 

[Maniacal]

Maybe they should just rethink and redesign cars. With hydrogen engines.

 

[zorven]

driving the speed limit! driving the speed limit uses less gas, using less gas means the reserves will go up!

Will this happen?
never!

Usually im the only schmuk going the speed limit...not really interested in rushing to work or school...

Call me a schuk too! I never saw the point of driving 5-10 over (and risking a ticket) just to get somewhere a few minutes faster.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

My Mustang GT gets better gas mileage above 60 on the highway. Actually the sweet spot is about 80. I have confirmed this many times. The thing that really helps is just maintaining a speed without speeding up and slowingng down a lot and don't accelerate at a high rate. The speed limit really has nothing to do with gas mileage and the slower you drive doesn't not equal better gas mileage. In fact driving slow from the bottom of a hill going up is horrible for gas mileage. One reason gas mileage is so much better on the highway is not just the stop and go factor but also the momentum you get from cruising at a higher speed, and the perfect speed varies from car to car.

 

[Turner]

Call me a schuk too! I never saw the point of driving 5-10 over (and risking a ticket) just to get somewhere a few minutes faster.

Most Police Departments don't start ticketing until it's at least 10 over. Not worth their time, otherwise.

At least in the US.

 

[zorven]

Most Police Departments don't start ticketing until it's at least 10 over. Not worth their time, otherwise.

At least in the US.

For me, saving 3 minutes on my trip is not worth the $ from a ticket. You never know when you will get a cop with an attitude. A couple months ago I got pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a three-way stop sign.

 

[BasketCase]

Maybe they should just rethink and redesign cars. With hydrogen engines.

Uhhhh....bad idea. My chemistry teacher once did a demonstration of the properties of hydrogen--he mixed some hydrogen and some oxygen in a test tube (holding it upside down to keep the hydrogen in) then lit a match.

The explosion almost broke my eardrums (and that was with my hands over my ears!) Fortunately, nobody was injured.

I feel a lot safer sitting on a tank of liquid gasoline rather than compressed hydrogen gas--hydrogen is NASTY.

 

[taper]

For those that didn't know, using hydrogen will actually increase overall fuel consumption, since H2 is an energy carrier, not an energy source. It must be produced using electricity, which in the US is almost 2/3rds coal and 1/10 petroleum. Not to mention the current technology is heavy, which means decreased mileage.

 

[Marla_Singer]

This really depends. The speed limit is not set for optimal fuel consumption, it's set for safety.

Hmm... I'm sorry but I'm not really sure about this.

I don't know for other countries, however I know that in France speed limits had been created in the 70's. The purpose was clearly to reduce gas consumption because of the oil crisis. At that time, people didn't really care about road fatalities.

A car gets it's best mileage just after shifting into top gear. On my 94 Grand Prix, this is between 60-65, depending on headwinds. The previous shift is around 40, so driving 55 is actually poor on my mileage. So is 35. Manual trannies change this some, but not by too much.

Well, 65 mph is already amazingly low as a speed limit for a highway ! However speed limits are different according to each state in the US.

Anyway, in France speed limits are fixed at about 82 mph (130 kph). I already consider this as too low. Indeed, I tend to get asleep while driving at that speed on a straight highway. It's been considered by the government to raise up the speed 90 mph. I'm not sure highway fatalities would necessarily increase at such a speed. The opposite can actually be revealed as true since less people would get asleep.

Don't believe tiredness is a marginal factor of death on roads. Actually, it's the #1 or #2 cause of road death depending on countries.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

People who drive below the speed limits are bigger hazards than those that speed. Because pretty much everyone is speeding, which makes those going slower a hazard because the speeders have to dodge them.

I have yet to be pulled over in about 5 years of driving. I know that's not long, but I almost always speed.
I generally only drive 5 to 7 over like Turner.

Like my friend (who is a cop) says, "nine your fine, ten you're mine."

Here's a question for Marla: Doesn't driving at those speeds tend to burn up or wear out your vehicle more quickly?

 

[Marla_Singer]

Here's a question for Marla: Doesn't driving at those speeds tend to burn up or wear out your vehicle more quickly?

82 mph isn't much for a modern car you know. All modern cars, even smaller European cars, can be easily driven at 100 mph without forcing.

No the problem about driving at 80mph isn't certainly that it uses the car, however, it's clearly not indicated to save gas !

 

[taper]

US speeds were set at 55 in 1974, to cut fuel consumption, but in 1987 it was raised to 65, and in 1995 the states could set whatever they wanted. In my state the interstate is 75mph, and in town highways are 55, not that many obey that. City streets range from 25-40, but the stop and go negates any gas savings. The Houston/Galveston, TX area tried reducing the speed limit in order to save gas in 2002, but the effort saved far less than estimated and was quickly scrapped.

 

[Riesstiu IV]

Not to long ago the posted speed limit throughout the US was 55mph for highway usage and federal law mandated this. Later, it was repealed in favor of each state posting its own speed limit. Almost every state has increased the speed limit and car fatalities have increased along with it.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

The big offender is Montana, which has no set speed limit, but where the police can pull you over if they think your speed is creating a danger. The fine? $5.

Montanians, I hear, drive around with pockets full of $5 bills, to just pay the cops cash when they get pulled over.

 

[Yom]

The big offender is Montana, which has no set speed limit, but where the police can pull you over if they think your speed is creating a danger. The fine? $5.

Montanians, I hear, drive around with pockets full of $5 bills, to just pay the cops cash when they get pulled over.

The awesomeness of such a system is beyond measurement.

 

[amadeus]

55 was a bad idea then and it's a bad idea now.

 

[frekk]

-Tax incentives for fuel-efficient, and particularly hybrid electric/gas engine vehicles to go to manufacturers.
-More funding for expansion of rail-based mass transit systems (subway, lt. rail, etc) in dense urban areas. Start laying groundwork for super high speed transit (eg maglev etc) in a few decades.
-Abandon ideas about underground motorways, or, require that they be constructed so they can easily be converted to transit systems.
-Reduce electrical demand by further promoting efficiency through tax incentives and expand power generation via nuclear and alternative systems.
-Seriously, begin investigating alternative energy for military applications. It was good for a while to keep military technology so strongly petroleum-based while the US had a firm grasp on supplies, but I think that's not so certain for the future, and anyway, somebody else is going to start in on this sooner or later. Fuel cells etc is the new way to go. This will spinoff into the civilian sector, too, with added benefits. The tech is already there, it just needs to be developed and incentives needed to speed it along.