More Speed = More Safety

Contrary to the safety ninnies that forced a 55 mile per hour speed limit on the country, when that limit was dumped in 1995, fatality rates on our highways started to decline (from the Wall Street Journal):

In 2005, according to new data from the National Highway Safety Administration, the rate of injuries per mile traveled was lower than at any time since the Interstate Highway System was built 50 years ago. The fatality rate was the second lowest ever, just a tick higher than in 2004.

As a public policy matter, this steady decline is a vindication of the repeal of the 55 miles per hour federal speed limit law in 1995. That 1974 federal speed limit was arguably the most disobeyed and despised law since Prohibition. "Double nickel," as it was often called, was first adopted to save gasoline during the Arab oil embargo, though later the justification became saving lives. But to Westerners with open spaces and low traffic density, the law became a symbol of the heavy hand of the federal nanny state. To top it off, Congress would deny states their own federal highway construction dollars if they failed to comply.

It's sort of like the classic research done by John Lott that proved that more guns equaled less crime. Where guns were banned, crime rates rose (imagine that).

My personal experience with the lower speed limit is that you end up with a freeway that has a handful of moving roadblocks trying to stay under the speed limit, while everyone else is swerving around them. That's bound to result in more accidents.

And for the energy freaks who insist on slowing everybody down, my Toyota got outstanding mileage on my recent 1300 mile trip, and we rarely ran less than 75 the whole time. I doubt if I would have done as well at 55.