Would a lower speed limit help the price of oil?

Question

I know it's not a popular idea, But it has been proven that big vehicles DO get better fuel mileage going at least 5 miles slower than the speed limit and good fuel mileage vehicles do even better at lower speeds. And another plus would be in saving lives. I don't mean 55, but something around 65 or maybe 60? What do you think? The Texas county that I live in has a 80 MPH speed limit.

Answer 1

It would lower consumption, but not enough to impact prices. The problem isn't really domestic consumption, we were able to meet that and keep gas at .25c/gallon back in '99. The problem is, after decades of getting cheap labour and merchandise from China, now they're starting to want some of the things they're making. They want cars, and they want meat. These two things both take lots of crude to make, and cars take lots of crude to keep on the road. With 3 billion people suddenly asking for it, the price has gone through the roof.

Answer 2

No it would be nice though. We are not the only country suffering from high oil prices. It would reduce the usage a bit though.

Answer 3

Driving slower saves gas and lives.

But the fed gov have been pushing to up the speed limit - even threatening to with hold federal hwy fund if the states don't raise the limit.

Go figure.

Good Luck...

Answer 4

Sure, like that will work. You can't even get people to drive 65.

Answer 5

The US EPA believes that cars drive 15% more efficiently at 55mph than at 65mph.

Answer 6

I would have to say I would go for any speed limit that maximized the usage of gas in a vehicle and kept the risks at or about the same percentage. However, all vehicles are slightly different, like toyotas vs older vehicles vs big semis. There should be a different speed limit for different types of vehicles. Now that would be maximizing.

I live in tx, too! woo yay texas :D

Answer 7

yes-55mph

Answer 8

what Jay says. China and India particularly have gotten prosperous and the worlds most populous country wants the great American dream .... the freedom of the open road. Think about it.

The party is over, there is no more cheap oil. Europeans have been paying double, triple, quadruple our price for years so quit'cher bitchin'.

Now what do we do? Cars are only a fraction of the demand for oil. Hellooooo, plastic? Reduce reuse recycle. Pastic's made from petrol, remember?

We throw out so much that there's an "island" of trash in the Pacific the size of Texas.

That's a lot of wasted oil and it's horrid for the enviornment.

Buy organic. Why? Traditional insecticides, fertilizers are made of what? Petrol. Yes, there are affordable options for organic food, clothing .... it will reduce the demand for oil.

Eat fresh and local. Why? It's not just your cars MPG, it's your products MPG. Why buy food and items shipped from wherever when it might be made right here. This will help your local economy and .... say it along with me .... reduce the demand for oil.

Not just alternate fuel but alternate power. The Chevy Volt (estimated avail '10) you could plug in at home or work and hopefully but then you're solar and go!!

It's not about your car.

The party is over, we need to find life after cheap oil.

Answer 9

Few observe the speed limit anyway.I can remember when the speed limit was 55 mph throughout Texas and everyone drove around 61 mph.

Answer 10

No, it would not. It would result in the reduction of oil demand, but I guarantee you the prices wouldn't go down. If demand goes down, the greedy oil companies will cut production by a like amount.

Answer 11

Well, besides safety, slower speed limits would increase pedestrian and bicycle usage (not on interstates of course...but as a traffic engineer it's been proven that 25mph on city streets would move people more effeciantly and you'd actually get to work quicker because you'd avoid bottle necks) which would help the price of oil.  But yes anything you do to calm traffic congestion, and more people are driving slowly and not stopping and starting as much yes you'd use less gas.