Reply #17: How old are you?

[Atman]

Seriously. No snark. Just asking...I've lived "Drive 55" under Nixon. You can't do it. It's bullshit. You can't get on a super-highway, which is DESIGNED to handled high-speed traffic, and drive 55. You'll fall asleep and drive off the road into a tree. Modern highways are designed by engineers to be efficient at high speeds.

I remember when I lived in Florida, and hosted some friends from California. In 1982, the "Beeline" from Orlando to Cocoa Beach was just that...a beeline. Miles and miles and miles of dead-straight driving. Drive 55 was a recipe for death. Modern cars and modern highways make 55 mph speed limits just plain riciculous. 55 is no magic number. Just some nostalgic bullshit.

ON EDIT: I don't know why I didn't include this in the first draft; I had to drive out to my weekend home today to stock it up for the holiday weekend. (Okay, let's save the "had to" for another thread.) We have a small SUV and and a Hyundai Elantra hatchback which gets more than twice the mileage of the SUV. I usually like to drive the back road, which takes about 15 minutes longer than taking the highway; the back road averages about 50 mph vs. the highway, which is of course 70-75 or more. But I took the highway today. Why? Because the car gets better mileage on the highway. The back road, mind you, isn't full of red lights and traffic...it's a clear run all the way, with only a couple of very small "hamlets" in which I have to slow down, but otherwise, it's press the gas pedal and drive the entire way.

BUT I GET MUCH BETTER GAS MILEAGE ON THE HIGHWAY. DRIVING 20-25 MPH FASTER.

55 is touchy-feely nostalgia. But technology has made 55 a ridiculous notion. Modern cars run better and more efficiently at higher speeds in higher gears.

.