The National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was a provision of the

federal government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act that effectively prohibited

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

s higher than . The limit was increased to in 1987. It was drafted in response to oil price spikes and supply disruptions during the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

. Even after fuel costs began to decrease over time the law would remain in place until 1995 as proponents claimed it reduced traffic fatalities. While federal officials hoped

gasoline consumption The fuel economy of an Car, automobile relates to the distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumption, fuel consumed. Consumption can be expressed in terms of the volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance traveled ...

would fall by 2.2%, the actual savings were estimated at between 0.5% and 1%. The law was widely disregarded by motorists nationwide, and some

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

opposed the law, but many jurisdictions discovered it to be a major source of revenue. Actions ranged from proposing deals for an exemption to de-emphasizing

speed limit enforcement Speed limits are enforced on most public roadways by authorities, with the purpose to improve driver compliance with speed limits. Methods used include roadside speed traps set up and operated by the police and automated roadside " speed camera" ...

. The NMSL was modified in 1987 and 1988 to allow up to limits on certain limited-access rural roads. Congress repealed the NMSL in 1995, fully returning

-setting authority to the individual states. The law's safety benefit is disputed as research found conflicting results. The power to set speed limits historically belonged to the states. Prior to the NMSL, the sole exception to this occurred during World War II, when the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation established a national maximum "Victory Speed Limit" of , in addition to gasoline and tire rationing, to help conserve fuel and rubber for the American war effort. Although it was widely disregarded by many motorists, the Victory Speed Limit lasted from May 1942 to August 14, 1945, when the war ended. Immediately before the NMSL became effective, speed limits were as high as . (Kansas had lowered its turnpike speed limit from before 1974.) Montana and Nevada generally posted no speed limits on highways, limiting drivers to only whatever was safe for conditions.

1973—55 mph National Speed Limit

As of November 20, 1973, several states had modified speed limits: * : Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Washington * : North Carolina and Oregon * California lowered some limits to . * In late November 1973, Texas Governor

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election fo ...

recommended adoption of a statewide limit. On December 4, the Texas Highway Commission, with a 3–0 vote, adopted this speed limit, citing unsafe speed differentials between the flow of traffic and people driving too slowly to comply with Nixon's and Briscoe's requests for voluntary slowdowns. The legality of the measure was questioned, and two Texas legislators threatened to sue to block the limit. By December 6,

Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

John Hill ruled that the speed reduction "'was in excess' of the commissioners' legal power," citing that a 1943 Texas Attorney General's opinion held that the legislature holds the power to set the statewide speed limit and the commission's authority was limited to changing it in specific locales where safety factors required lower limits. As an emergency response to the

, on November 26, 1973, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

proposed a national speed limit for passenger vehicles and a 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit for trucks and buses. Also proposed were a ban on ornamental lighting, no gasoline sales on Sunday, and a 15% cut in gasoline production to reduce total gas consumption by 200,000 barrels a day, representing a 2.2% drop from annualized 1973 gasoline consumption levels. Nixon partly based that on a belief that cars achieve maximum efficiency between and that trucks and buses were most efficient at . The California Trucking Association, the largest trucking association in the United States, opposed differential speed limits on grounds that they are "not wise from a safety standpoint."

Enactment

The ''Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act'' was a bill in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

that included the National Maximum Speed Limit. States had to agree to the limit if they desired to receive federal funding for highway repair. The uniform speed limit was signed into law by Nixon on January 2, 1974, and became effective 60 days later, by requiring the limit as a condition of each state receiving highway funds, a use of the

Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. The legislation ''required'' speed limits on all four-lane divided highways unless the road had a lower limit before November 1, 1973. In some cases, like the

New York State Thruway The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway and colloquially "the Thruway") is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway ...

, the speed limit had to be raised to comply with the law. The law ''capped'' speed limits at on all other roads. A survey by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

found that, as of Wednesday, January 2, 1974: * 12 states already had maximum speed limits of . * 9 states had maximum speed limits of . * 29 states had to lower limits. That includes some states that voluntarily lowered their limits in advance of the federal requirement. On May 12, 1974, the United States Senate defeated a proposal by Senator

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

to raise the speed limit to . The 55 mph (90 km/h) National Maximum Speed Limit was made permanent when Congress enacted and President Gerald Ford signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 on January 4, 1975.

Safety impact

The limit's effect on highway safety is unclear. Both during the time the law was enacted and after it was repealed, automobile fatalities decreased, which was widely attributed mainly to automobile safety improvements, owing to an increase in the safety of cars themselves, and the passage of mandatory

seat belt legislation Seat belt legislation requires the fitting of seat belts to motor vehicles and the wearing of seat belts by motor vehicle occupants to be mandatory. Laws requiring the fitting of seat belts to cars have in some cases been followed by laws mandatin ...

by all states except New Hampshire from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. This decrease in fatalities from automobile accidents makes figuring out the actual impact of the law difficult. Although the vast majority of states reported fewer traffic deaths in 1974 compared with 1973, there were in fact three states where traffic deaths actually ''increased'' in 1974, 1975 and 1976, compared to 1973, notwithstanding the 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit: Alaska, New Hampshire and Wyoming. According to the National Research Council, there was a decrease in fatalities of about 3,000 to 5,000 lives in 1974, and about 2,000 to 4,000 lives saved annually thereafter through 1983 because of slower and more uniform traffic speeds since the law took effect. Later, the National Academies wrote that there is "a strong link between vehicle speed and crash severity

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

supports the need for setting maximum limits on high-speed roads" but that "the available data do not provide an adequate basis for precisely quantifying the effects that changes in speed limits have on driving speeds, safety, and travel time on different kinds of roads." The Academies report also observed that on rural interstates, the free-flowing traffic speed should be the major determinant of the speed limit: "Drivers typically can anticipate appropriate driving speeds." This is due, in part, to the strong access control in these areas but also is an acknowledgement of the difficulty of enforcing the 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit in these areas. A

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...

report showed that the safety record worsened in the first few months of the new speed limits, suggesting that the fatality drop found by the NRC was a statistical anomaly that regressed to the mean by 1978. After the oil crisis abated, the NMSL was retained mainly due to the possible safety aspect.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS-HLDI) is an American nonprofit organization. It was established in 1959, and it is noted for its safety reviews of vehicles in various simulated traffic situations, ...

analysts wrote three papers that argue that increase from on rural roads led to a 25% to 30% increase in deaths (1/3 from increased travel, 2/3 from increased speed), citing Transportation Research Board. 1984. 55: a decade of experience. Special Report 204. Washington, DC., available for purchase online a

/ref> while the full repeal in 1995 led to a further 15% increase in fatalities. In contrast, researchers at University of California Transportation Science Center argue that the interstates in question are only part of the equation, one also must account for traffic moving off the relatively more dangerous country roads and onto the relatively safer interstates. Accounting for this they find that raising rural speed limits to caused a 3.4% to 5.1% decrease in fatalities.

Fuel savings

In 1998, the

Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. TRB's mission is to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challe ...

footnoted an estimate that the NMSL reduced fuel consumption by 0.2 to 1.0 percent. Rural interstates, the roads most visibly affected by the NMSL, accounted for 10% of the U.S.'s vehicle-miles-traveled in 1973, and although dropping speeds from 75 to 55 mph (120 to 90 km/h) reduces air resistance by over half, such free-flowing roads typically provide more fuel-efficient travel than conventional roads.Lexus IS250 2.5L 6cyl, Auto 6 speed Sedan, 5 seats, 2WD
''IS 250 Kraftstoffverbrauch kombiniert 8,9 L/100 km (innerorts 12,5 L/ außerorts 6,9 L) bei CO2-Emissionen von 209 g/km nach dem vorgeschriebenen EU-Messverfahren'' ''2009 Lexus IS 250 6 cyl, 2.5 L, Automatic (S6), Premium'' http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

Opposition and noncompliance

Despite federal compliance standards mandated by Congress that no more than 50 percent of free-flowing traffic on 55 mph-posted highways exceed 55 mph from 1981 onwards, which required up to a 10 percent reduction in federal highway funding for states in noncompliance, by the 1980s traffic surveys showed the NMSL was widely violated: * The speed limit had very low compliance, contrary to the commonly accepted engineering practice that says that the speed limit should criminalize only the fastest 15% of drivers: ** From April to June 1982, speed was monitored on New York's

Interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

s, and an 83% noncompliance rate was found despite extreme penalties ranging from $100 (1982 dollars, equal to $ today) or 30 days jail on a first offense to $500 (1982 dollars, equal to $ today), up to 180 days in jail, and a six-month driver's license revocation upon third conviction in 18 months. ** In the fourth quarter of 1988, 85% of drivers violated the speed limits on Connecticut rural interstates. ** In 1985, the Texas's State Department of Highways and Public Transportation surveyed motorist speeds at 101 locations on six types of urban and rural roads. It found that 82.2% of motorists violated the speed limit on rural interstates, 67.2% violated speed limits on urban interstates, and 61.6% violated speed limits on all roads. * Western states began to reduce fines in the 1980s, effectively minimizing the impact of the 55 mph (90 km/h) limit: ** Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada replaced traditional speeding fines with $5–$15 energy wasting fines as long as drivers did not exceed the speed limit in effect before the 55 mph (90 km/h) federal requirement. *** Nevada's energy wasting fine was enacted on April 15, 1981, when signed by Governor

Robert List Robert Frank List (born September 1, 1936) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 24th Governor of Nevada from 1979 to 1983, as Nevada Attorney General from 1971 to 1979, and as Carson City D ...

. Motorists not exceeding 70 mph (110 km/h) in zones could be issued $5 "energy wasting" fines. However, standard speeding tickets were still allowed and "troopers were directed not to take the new law as a signal to stop writing tickets." ** In 1986, North Dakota's fine for speeding up to over the limit was only $15 and had no license points. ** South Dakota cut speeding fines in 1985 and stopped assessing points for being or less above the speed limit in 1986. ** On August 1, 1986, Minnesota, which normally suspended licenses after three tickets, stopped counting speeding tickets for no more than . * The 1980 Republican Party platform called for the repeal of the 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit. In its section on Rural Transportation, it stated: "We believe the federal 55 miles per hour speed limit is counterproductive, and contributes to the high costs of goods and services to all communities, particularly in rural America. The most effective, no-cost federal assistance program available would be for each state to set its own speed limit." * In 1981, 33 state legislatures debated measures to oppose the NMSL. * In 1985, the U.S. Department of Transportation found the states of Arizona, Maryland (designated a "Strict Enforcement Area" by the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

), and Vermont were out of compliance with the 55 mph (90 km/h) national speed limit, according to speed monitoring data collected and submitted by these states, showing that over 50 percent of their highway traffic exceeded 55 mph (90 km/h) in Fiscal Year 1984; the House Public Works and Transportation Subcommittee on Surface Transportation held hearings on July 23, 1985, to discuss proposals to revise the federal compliance requirements for 55 mph (90 km/h) on the basis of recommendations made by the National Research Council, to help these and other states come into compliance and avoid sanctions. * Some law enforcement officials openly questioned the speed limit. In 1986, Jerry Baum, director of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, said "Why must I have a trooper stationed on an interstate, at 10 in the morning, worried about a guy driving 60 mph (100 km/h) on a system designed to be traveled at 70? He could be out on a Friday night watching for drunken drivers." * Even organizations supporting the NMSL, such as the

(AAA) provided lists of locations where the limit was strictly enforced. * On June 1, 1986,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

challenged the NMSL by posting a 70 mph (110 km/h) limit on of

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

. The Nevada statute authorizing that speed limit included language that invalidated itself if the federal government suspended transportation funding. As it happened, the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

immediately withheld highway funding, which automatically invalidated the statute by its own terms. * Finally, on September 24, 1986, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of an amendment to pending federal highway legislation, introduced by Senator Steve Symms (R-ID) and supported by President Ronald Reagan, to allow states to increase speed limits on rural Interstate highways to 65 mph. Both the amendment and the highway bill died in a House-Senate conference committee before Congress adjourned for that year.

1987 to 1995 — rural 65 mph (105 km/h) to total repeal

In the April 2, 1987,

Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act The Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100–17, 101 Stat. 132) is a United States Act of Congress, containing in Title I, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1987. History The bill was introduced in House b ...

, Congress permitted states to raise speed limits to on rural Interstate highways. In a bill that passed in mid-December 1987, Congress allowed certain non-Interstate rural roads built to Interstate standards to have the higher speed limits. As of December 29, 1987, the states of California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma had applied for and been accepted into this program. The program was originally slated to last four years. A total of 40 states raised their speed limits to 65 mph on rural Interstate highway and non-Interstate rural roads built to Interstate standards by 1988, joined by Massachusetts (Turnpike only) in 1992, and by Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania in the summer of 1995. The higher speed limit on most rural Interstates and similar non-Interstate roads was vehemently opposed by highway safety advocates, including the

National Safety Council The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congress ...

Public Citizen Public Citizen is an American non-profit, Progressivism in the United States, progressive consumer rights advocacy group, and think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1971 by the American activist and lawyer Ralph Nader. Lobbying e ...

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada ( MADD Canada) and Brazil that seeks to stop driving with any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent un ...

American Trucking Associations The American Trucking Associations (ATA), founded in 1933, is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States through a federation ...

, and the

, all ardent, long-time supporters of 55 mph (90 km/h). On the other hand, the new 65 mph speed limit for rural Interstates was welcomed by the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

, National Motorists Association (''née'' Citizens' Coalition for Rational Traffic Laws), a motorists' advocacy group,

American Motorcyclist Association The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its motto, mission statement is "t ...

, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the automotive enthusiast magazines

Motor Trend ''Motor Trend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''Motor Trend'' until 1998, when it was sold ...

Road & Track ''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published 1947. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published six times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York City. History ''Road ...

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

, and the late automotive journalist

Brock Yates Brock Yates (October 21, 1933 – October 5, 2016) was a prominent American journalist, TV commentator, TV reporter, screenwriter, and author. He was the longtime executive editor at ''Car and Driver'' magazine—and contributed to ''The Washingt ...

(1934–2016)--perhaps the most outspoken published opponent of the 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit. Under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, passed by Congress and signed by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

on December 18, 1991, the 65 mph speed limit was made permanent for rural non-Interstate highways built to Interstate standards. It also declared a moratorium on Federal sanctions against states in noncompliance with the 55 mph (90 km/h) national speed limit for fiscal years 1990 and 1991, and directed the U.S. Department of Transportation to promulgate new compliance standards for the 65 mph rural freeways, as well as for all 55 mph (90 km/h) highways. As required by ISTEA, they were published in the Code of Federal Regulations 23 CFR Part 1260, but no further action was taken by USDOT against the states for speed limit noncompliance for the last few years the NMSL was still in effect until it was repealed in 1995.

Reclassified roads

A few roads that were not Interstate Highways but had been built to Interstate standards were redesignated as Interstate Highways to qualify for the increased speed limit: * Kansas petitioned the Federal Highway Administration on May 14, 1987, to "designate the turnpike as an Interstate Highway between

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

and Emporia." This

Kansas Turnpike The Kansas Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas citie ...

segment had existed since 1956 without a numerical designation. Interstate status was granted, Interstate 335 was designated, and the 65 mph speed limit signs went up. * Interstate 88 in Illinois had previously been designated as

Illinois Route 5 Illinois Route 5 (IL 5) is a four to six lane state highway in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, that runs from U.S. Route 67 (US 67) in Rock Island to the interchange of Interstate 80 (I-80) and the toll-free portion of ...

. * of the

Maine Turnpike Interstate 95 (I-95) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs north–south from Miami, Florida to Houlton, Maine. The highway enters Maine from the New Hampshire state line in Kittery, Maine, Kittery and runs for to the Cana ...

between Portland and West Gardiner were designated as Interstate 495 in 1988. The designation for this segment was changed in 2004 to

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

to simplify the Interstate numbering scheme in Maine.

1995 repeal

Congress lifted all federal speed limit controls in the

National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 The National Highway System (NHS) is a network of strategic highways within the United States, including the Interstate Highway System and other roads serving major airports, ports, military bases, rail or truck terminals, railway stations, pip ...

, returning all speed limit determination authority to the states effective December 8, 1995. Several states immediately reverted to already existing laws. For example, most Texas rural limits that were above in 1974 immediately reverted to 70 mph (112 km/h), causing some legal confusion before the new signs were posted.

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

reverted to non-numerical speed limits on most rural highways, but its legislature adopted as a limit in 1999; as a result, according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety researcher Anne McCartt, "What's impressive is the huge drop in the percent of vehicles going very fast.... The proportion of vehicles exceeding 75 mph (120 km/h), the limit set y Montanain 1999, tumbled 45 percent. The proportion surpassing 80 mph plummeted 85 percent. Large trucks slowed, too." (She did not mention that the IIHS survey of traffic speeds on Interstate highways in 2006 she referred to, found Montana, as compared with New Mexico and Nevada, had the highest compliance with the 75 mph (120 km/h) speed limit on rural interstates: ''76 percent.'') Hawaii was the last state to raise its speed limit when, in response to public outcry after an experiment with

traffic enforcement camera A traffic enforcement camera (also a red light camera, speed camera, road safety camera, bus lane camera, depending on use) is a camera which may be mounted beside or over a road or installed in an enforcement vehicle to detect motoring offense ...

s in 2002, it raised the maximum speed limit on parts of Interstates H-1 and H-3 to 60 mph (97 km/h). Despite the repeal of federal speed limit controls, the 2011 maximum speed limits were on average lower than those of 1974: * States with same speed limit as pre-1974: 25Includes Texas where the same pre-1974 speed limits are applicable on the vast majority of rural roads despite some 75 and 80 mph limits. * States with higher speed limit than pre-1974: 8 * States with lower speed limits than pre-1974: 17Includes Virginia where the vast majority of rural freeways have a limit. The introduction to 70 or 75 mph (112 or 120 km/h) speed limits was in effect that year. The introduction to 80 mph (almost 130 km/h) limits was in about 2005, and Texas introduced 85 mph (136 km/h) in 2011. Although traffic deaths and death rates generally declined in the United States between 1989 and 2009, highway safety advocates have long continued to assert that increases in state speed limits after the repeal of the National Maximum Speed Law have had a detrimental effect on highway safety, and they have conducted many studies including statistical analyses that claim to support this argument. For example, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety declared that "each 5 mph increase in the maximum speed limit resulted in a 4 percent increase in fatalities. The increase on Interstates and freeways... was 8 percent. Comparing the annual number of fatalities in the 41 states tudiedwith the number that would have been expected if each state's maximum speed limit had remained unchanged since 1993, earrived at the estimate of 33,000 additional fatalities over the 20-year period rom 1993 to 2013"

Speedometers

Effective September 1, 1979, in a

FMVSS The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are U.S. federal vehicle regulations specifying design, construction, performance, and durability requirements for motor vehicles and regulated automobile safety-related components, systems, and ...

that also regulated speedometer and odometer accuracy, the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...

(NHTSA) required

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge (instrument), gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as ...

s to have special emphasis on the number 55 and a maximum speed of 85 mph (140 km/h). Some manufacturers circumvented the rule by including extra lines beyond 85 to show higher speeds. However, on March 25, 1982, NHTSA revoked that Standard (FMVSS 127) entirely, eliminating speedometer and odometer rules because they were "unlikely to yield significant safety benefits" and " highlighted '55' on a speedometer scale adds little to the information provided to the driver by a roadside speed limit sign."

In popular culture

The number ''55'' became a popular shorthand for the 55 mph speed limit. For example, a hand with a pair of fives in

Texas hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in ...

poker is referred to as a "speed limit". Rock musician

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

released "

I Can't Drive 55 "I Can't Drive 55" is the lead single and first track from Sammy Hagar's eighth studio album '' VOA'' in 1984. Perpetuated by a very successful music video, it became a concert staple that continued throughout Hagar's tours as a member of Van H ...

", a hit single protesting the rule. The title of

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

's critically acclaimed double album ''

Double Nickels on the Dime ''Double Nickels on the Dime'' is the third album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the SST Records in July 1984. A double album containing 45 songs, ''Double Nickels on the Dime'' combines elements of punk rock, funk, country, spok ...

'' refers to the NMSL, and in jest, to the Sammy Hagar single. The bill limiting speed limits was used as a debate topic in Season 2 Episode 12 of

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

. One of a series of advertising campaigns for the 55 mph speed limit offered, "Speed limit 55. It's not just a good idea. It's the law.". This was parodied with a more absolute statement based on the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

: "186,000 miles per second. It's not just a good idea, it's the law."

Annotations

References

External links

Drive 55 Conservation Project video by Ryan Little. Tim Castleman founder of the Drive 55 Conservation Project discussing the benefits of getting drivers to slow down and observe all speed limits, never exceeding 55 MPH to reduce consumption by 20% to 50%. Film was a finalist at the 2010 Nevada City Film Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgCJcdurl9w&t=28s
{{Traffic law 1973 oil crisis 1974 in American law 1974 in transport January 1974 in the United States Road transportation in the United States United States federal transportation legislation Repealed United States legislation Road speed limit Presidency of Richard Nixon