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Re: Fuel efficiency versus speed



----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernard G. Cleyet & Nancy Ann Seese" <georgeann@REDSHIFT.COM>

The alternative; allow higher speed for the trucks (conforms to the
intent of the law) is non starter as wildly varying speeds accident
contributes. This reminds the unexpected concomitant 55 speed result, very
reduced accident rate. Anyone know how much the rate has
increased as a result of the 75/80 (CA) present speed limit? My
impression: that it went up, but not to the previous, because of tech.
advance.


I've always considered this argument for lower Interstate speed limits to be
phony. How many Interstate Highway accidents are a result of excessive
speed? I live very near the Indiana Toll Road and in fact drive it daily.
Over the past 20 years I don't remember a single accident along this road
that was solely speed related--speed and adverse weather maybe--but not
speed. The primary cause of accidents on the Interstates tends to be
falling asleep--something that lower speed limits encourage. Most of the
fatal accidents are people running off the road OR running into others who
ARE off the road. Now where speed DOES KILL are the county roads. Yearly
we have at least a dozen or so 'young' people kill themselves on back roads
and almost always from excessive speed.

IMO, the one thing the 55 mph speed limits of the 70s did accomplish was to
destroy whatever vestige of respect we still had for traffic laws and law
enforcement and any guilt associated with breaking those 'rules'.

BTW: As I remember, the drop in traffic fatalities also mirrored the
decrease in passenger miles driven. ;-)

Rick

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Richard W. Tarara
Associate Professor of Physics
Department of Chemistry & Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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