Another Reason to Drive 55: You Take Better Pictures
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.12.08
Man rolling along (and whistling audibly) on U.S. Route 101 at approximately 55 mph on a summer day in 1989
Photographer Andrew Bush attached a camera to the passenger door of his car and drove around Los Angeles at 60MPH, taking pictures while driving alongside his subjects. He probably had to then cut them off to get them to sign releases and caused a number of heart attacks. They are tagged with speed and location; too bad they didn't have google maps between 1989 and 1997 when the pictures were taken.
See all 66 pix at ::Vector Portraits; You won't see the likes of a lot of these cars again. Also published recently in a book: ::Drive via ::Swiss Miss
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The added labor costs to business paying for employees being on the road 28% longer is far above the savings in gas. That added expense will ultimately result in increased prices of all goods and services.
55MPH will be very detrimental to the economy. Yes, many vehicles do get up to 27% better gas mileage at 55 MPH as compared to 75 MPH. However you are also driving 28% slower at 55 MPH. A 100 mile trip takes all most 30 minutes longer at 55MPH as compared to 75MPH.
For the sake of discussion, please follow along with my math for the 100 mile trip: A car that gets 25 MPG would get 31.75 MPG at 55 MPH (27%) - Gas at $4.00 per gallon - Employee labor cost of $15 per hour. Driving at 75MPH will take 80 minutes and cost a total of $36.00 in gas and labor costs
( use 4 gallons of gas at a cost of $16.00 and the labor cost would be $20 (1.3 hours x $15/hour))
Driving at 55MPH will take over 109 minutes and cost a total of $39.87 in gas and labor costs
( use 3.15 gallons of gas at a cost of $12.60 and the labor cost would be $27.27 (1.8 hours x $15/hour))
THAT’S AN 11% INCREASE IN COSTS BY SLOWING DOWN TO 55MPH. The burden labor rate for many service industries is actually $25 to $ 35 and more and therefore the problem is even worse.
The saving lives argument has also be very exaggerated. The chances of being involved in an accident on the highway increase the longer you are actually exposed to the risk. In other words, if you are on the highway an additional 30 minutes per day, your exposure to potential risk has been increase 30 more minutes. Being on the road longer also greatly increases driver fatigue. Driving while sleepy is as dangerous as driving drunk.
The claims that the National Highway death toll went down around 1974 due to the 55 MPH limit imposed after the 1973 Oil crisis has often been disputed. It has been suggested that this drop was actually due to new enforcement of seat belt laws and people driving less because of high gas prices.
As a business owner of a service industry, the interference by the Federal Government to make me inefficient will cost me thousands of dollars. All of my company vehicles (except two delivery trucks) get over 30 MPG at 75MPH. I personally drive a 2008 Mini Cooper. Those who want to drive at 55 are more than welcome to drive 55. Just don't make everyone else along with the economy slow down with you!