Should we increase the speed limit on the freeways / highways (Canada & the U.S.)?

Question

Lots of people speed anyways.. myself included, and I have the tickets to prove it.

Answer 1

We should bring back the 55 MPH limit in the USA to conserve fuel and cut down on fatal collisions.

Answer 2

well like my uncle said,,he is a cop,,if you increase it to 70 they,ll go 75-80,,and so on,, and there has to be a limit some where,,or a place to draw the line,i agree that traffic moves better when the speed limit is higher,,but also when there is an accident,,it is usually a fatal one,,and i have seen some fatal ones at 55,,it all depends,,on the road,,the driver,,and the vehicle there in,,i know we are all guilty of speeding,,and sooner or later we all get caught,,me included,,so for now i would have to say they need to leave it alone for a while,,they really are lenient with it anyway,,because you can go by a cop doing over the speed limit,,and he wont bother you,,as long your driving is good,,and your not going to much over the limit,,i know i have done it a few times myself,,i hope this help,s

Answer 3

OK. I know this shouldn't count because it happened in South Carolina. I used to live near this highway where they upped the limit by only FIVE miles an hour. Two months later they had to lower it back because too many people got into accidents. Again, being that it was SC, stupidity IS expected.
I think that they should have special driver's licenses that allow people that can pass certain tests to drive at higher speeds than those that can't. Let me tell you though, I have been around some people that I would rather not go faster, they can barely drive at 35mph.

Answer 4

In places where the limit has been raised, the death rates have actually dropped. The reason the limits are low is for revenue, thats all it is. Thats how limits in the U.S. were started, to raise money for the war (WWI I believe). Now that they see how much money is made because of low limits, they want to keep them low. It is possible with technology to increase the limit every 5 years or so, cars and trucks are getting safer and safer. I am sick of these stupid laws. If they raise it to 90mph which would be great, I think they shoud start handing out tickets at 91mph. Right now where I live there is about an 8-10mph leinency(sp).

Answer 5

the speed limit is provided to protect the people and to protect the car. if everyone drives at a uniform speed, there is less chance of accidents. many accidents happen because people are either driving over the speed limit or under it. a fast driver is as much of a liability as a slow driver.

Let's face it, there are plenty of jumpy people out there....if you're driving along, minding your own business and someone zips on by, the normal reaction is to jump. For the extremely jumpy people, it might cause them to lose control of the car if their instinct is to swerve the car. I'm not all that easily scared, but even I've went "OYE!" when someone zips on by.

And let's talk about the snails...they'd even make a calm law abiding driver wanna yell profanities. Quick tempered individuals might hastily make a decision to go into the next lane without looking or underestimating the car coming up. This is how I got hit by a hit and run driver....he didn't want to wait for the person in front and just "BAM!" right into my door. He didn't even look, he just went. Now I've got a ding on my door for a year now and no money even for the deductible. If I may go on a tangent here, I'm easy and nice, I would have been willing to lie to the insurance and said hit and run as long as he footed the deductible. But there's idiots out there...and obviously I'm one of them for believing the good in people to at least stop and make sure I was okay.

Okay, enough of the tangent, lower speed limits are also beneficial to the car. Higher speeds waste more gas...and at these prices, who needs that? Tires aren't wasted as fast, motor, oil...all the makings of the car aren't running faster hence less waste. Plus, the faster you go, the longer it takes for the car to come to a complete stop.

I'm no turtle, I've done my share of speedy gonzalez runs (so by experience, I know whether or not the car burns more oil), but I've grown out of it, plus, I've got a daughter and I've got nieces who I tote around quite often, I've got to think of their welfare. Even if I'm a great driver, I've got to worry about the other guy who might not be so good. Plus, as a single mother with a child in private school and no other income (no child support) I really don't feel like paying all that money every couple of days on gas...and I've got an economical car.

So if you can afford the gas and the tickets, by all means, speed away, but I'd rather spend my hard earned money on something more meaningful....like a day at the spa!!!

Answer 6

Not in the States but definitely in Canada. Highway speed in Canada on the TCH is 90km some places only 80km and others 100km. So slow compared to the 70M here in TN. Speeding and reckless driving are two different things, I just hope everyone is safe when they get into a vehicle, I don't want to sound all safety nerd but car accidents are dangerous, you can't just think about yourself hurting you could collide with another vehicle and hurt someone else. Someone's daughter, son, mom, dad, friend, husband, wife.....etc.

Answer 7

No. Especially during the current energy crisis. For every 5 mph over 60, you lose 5% of your fuel economy. We don't really have enough oil to last another 50 years, so if we slow down, we can keep gas prices lower for as long as possible.

Answer 8

YES. It might be unsafe, but... we need adrenaline.
The idea is that they will take less money from speeders if they increase the speed limit. So... i don't think they will.
It depends on the engine. Not all the engine will eat your gas faster over 60mph. You can do some research on this one.

Answer 9

the reason highways are safe is becuase there is a variance in the speed people drive ... if everyone drove fast.. it would be just as bad as everyone drove slow.. and highways would be clogged... accidents always happen where there is little variance in the travel speed of the vehicles, i.e. rush hour traffic

Answer 10

I think tollway should have no limit or a much higher limit. Otherwise what are you paying for. I figure they can put in more tollways for people like you and me who would rather pay to speed then have to pay a stupid ticket.