26 June 2008

Environmentalists, Old People Want You to Drive 55

Adele Ferguson writes in the Port Orchard Independent that it's time to bring back the Carteresque policy of driving abominably slow on the freeway. She even suggests just doing it, regardless of the speed limit:

I have already begun taking my foot off the gas pedal and try to drive 50 mph on the various freeways. To no one’s surprise, I’m sure, I’m passed by everyone. I still think 55 mph is a better solution than looking forward to $5 or $10 a gallon gas in days to come.

WA drivers generally drive slower than the rest of the nation, and the fastest speed limit on me and Adele's side of the Puget sound is 60MPH. I do not recommend doing this in places like the Midwest (where the speed limit is often 75MPH) unless you want to end up a hood ornament on the truck that's trying to get Tulsa before sundown. But snarling up traffic with low speed limits seems to be gaining steam as the eco-friendly Treehugger directs our attention to the Drive 55 project. The site hosts a long list of reasons of why driving like an 86 year-old on Ambien is good for the environment and saves gas. It also has some really weird bumperstickers ("Drive 55 - Support The Troops") that will certainly enrage everybody trying to get to work as these self-righteous motorists tool along slowly in the left lane of the interstate. Of course, the best retort to this argument can be summed up by Mr. Sammy Hagar.

0 comments: