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Today is the anniversary of the enactment of the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit in the United States in 1974.
Speed limits have been with us since 1757, when they first appeared in Boston. The 55-mile-per-hour speed limit became the maximum speed limit in the United States for 12 years, beginning in 1974 and ending in 1986. The logic behind the limit was to force fuel economy following the 1973 oil embargo, and experts believed the law would force fuel consumption to fall by 2.2%. It only fell between .5 and 1.1%, depending upon the study.
As Sammy Hagar famously states in his song “I Can’t Drive 55”, the double nickel speed limit was not popular, especially on rural highways in western states. In 1987 the US Congress raised the national speed limit to 65 MPH. By the end of 1995, National Highway Designation Act permanently killed the idea of a federal speed limit, transferring authority to the individual states.
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