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It has been several years since the national speed limit was 55 miles an hour. Citing the recent economic problems and energy concerns, one group wants to bring it back.
Sammy Hagar might not be able to, but if the speed limit were lowered once again to 55 miles an hour, would you follow it? Some people I spoke with said they weren't sure. One man I spoke to asked, "Would I go 55 miles an hour? I'd go the same speed everyone else was."
Others say if it was the law, they'd follow it, while others said they definitely would drive faster. One man said he would drive 62 miles an hour, under the assumption that police won't pull you over if you're going only seven miles over the limit.
But one group, called the Drive 55 Conservation Project, is pushing to lower all freeway speed limits to 55, saying it would save the country millions of gallons of gas.
Project Founder Tim Castleman said, "It's not just the few dollars that you save in the gas tank. That's almost the small part. There's the wear and tear on your car. There are the reduced accidents [and] the lower insurance rates."
Castleman says he admits this would be a rule not all drivers would be happy with, especially if they're running a bit behind schedule.
"It's a cultural sense of urgency that's driven by poor planning," he said.
Utah Senate officials say no lawmakers seem to support a lowering of the speed limit. As a matter of fact, legislators just voted to allow UDOT to increase the speed limit on Interstate 15 in Central Utah.
District 20 Sen. Scott Jenkins said, "Everybody says if you make it (the speed limit) 80, then they'll go 90. In fact, that's not what happens. They travel at a speed they feel safe, and if somebody feels safe at 70, they travel at 70."
Jenkins says drivers not only need to worry about how much gas they use, but how much time they spend on the road.
The American Trucking Association is promoting a national speed limit of 65 miles an hour, but The Utah Trucking Association can see some pros and cons with that.
Executive Director David Creer said, "With hills and mountains and going down mountains and up mountains, you know, we have to go at variable speeds now, and the motoring public doesn't like that sometimes."
Creer says the association will study that proposal before making a decision to support it or not.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
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