Time To Drive 55 Again?

[sno_duc]

F- that! A pick-up isn't the same as a "truck", ask any truck driver. What's your beef with trucks anyway, and how are you going to include SUV's too. So you can only go over 60 if you drive an Accord?  I need a middle finger smiley.

Go to any shopping mall in any major city and check out the parking lot.
We are all going to get(ting) raked over the coals so some moron can haul 3 sacks of groceries and couple of kids in a 3-4 ton SUV ( light truck in Fed speak )
I've worked enough construction jobs to have a pretty good idea what a light truck is and how to use abuse one.
3/4 of what Detroit has conviced the Feds are " light trucks" aren't, they're just abusing the light truck loophole to get around CAFE mileage requirements.
And yes I still own the 93 Dodge 3/4 ton, drive it about 1,000 miles a year, always loaded at least one way.

[ducatiz]

F- that! A pick-up isn't the same as a "truck", ask any truck driver. What's your beef with trucks anyway, and how are you going to include SUV's too. So you can only go over 60 if you drive an Accord?  I need a middle finger smiley.

i agree -- we should distinguish between the 18-wheeler types and the "air haulers"..  as long as the latter are 1-ton or less.

Go to any shopping mall in any major city and check out the parking lot.
We are all going to get(ting) raked over the coals so some moron can haul 3 sacks of groceries and couple of kids in a 3-4 ton SUV ( light truck in Fed speak )
I've worked enough construction jobs to have a pretty good idea what a light truck is and how to use abuse one.
3/4 of what Detroit has conviced the Feds are " light trucks" aren't, they're just abusing the light truck loophole to get around CAFE mileage requirements.
And yes I still own the 93 Dodge 3/4 ton, drive it about 1,000 miles a year, always loaded at least one way.

i agree with the sentiment to some extent.  especially with the smaller trucks, i.e. under 1 ton, there is no reason for a separate category.

that being said, bigger trucks for non-commercial use can have a "gas guzzler" tax added to satisfy the CAFE requirements.

[hbliam]

Who said anything about the DoE? 
When you figure out what you're talking about or to whom you're replying, let us know.

Step 1: Maybe try reading the original article.

Step 2: Put the tin foil hat back on.

[ducatiz]

Step 1: Maybe try reading the original article.

Step 2: Put the tin foil hat back on.

you replied to me, and i was not talking about the DoE.. the original article may have mentioned it for other reasons, but that had nothing to do with my post.

[hbliam]

you replied to me, and i was not talking about the DoE.. the original article may have mentioned it for other reasons, but that had nothing to do with my post.

The DOE are the ones saying it saves money. Other groups are trying to get congress to reinstate the 55 limit. No States are pushing this idea on their own to produce revenue. That was my point. I've never been told to write more tickets to increase revenue.

[ducatiz]

The DOE are the ones saying it saves money. Other groups are trying to get congress to reinstate the 55 limit. No States are pushing this idea on their own to produce revenue. That was my point. I've never been told to write more tickets to increase revenue.

I wasn't talking about that at all.  I was talking about other pressures on the feds to reinstate the national speed limit act again, namely states who will get another windfall of revenue from it.

Your agency may not need to press cops to write tickets.  Plenty of cities/counties around the country use citations as a source of "alternative tax" revenue and structure speed traps and speed sign changes to enhance their revenue.

my hat is titantium

[hbliam]

my hat is titantium

[Scottish]

Go to any shopping mall in any major city and check out the parking lot.
We are all going to get(ting) raked over the coals so some moron can haul 3 sacks of groceries and couple of kids in a 3-4 ton SUV ( light truck in Fed speak )
I've worked enough construction jobs to have a pretty good idea what a light truck is and how to use abuse one.
3/4 of what Detroit has conviced the Feds are " light trucks" aren't, they're just abusing the light truck loophole to get around CAFE mileage requirements.
And yes I still own the 93 Dodge 3/4 ton, drive it about 1,000 miles a year, always loaded at least one way.

The people driving those trucks and SUV's are paying for the privellege of doing so. Your gas prices are not going up so much in response to people driving trucks and SUVs. Grab a WSJ, watch to see what market forces are the biggest influences on you fuel prices.
1) Weak dollar, regulating SUV's won't effect that.
2) Global demand, inparticularly China. They are stockpiling HUGE amounts of fuel in anticipation of essentially gaining an entire city for the duration of the summer Olmpics.
3) and then the spectulators of course keep buying ahead and keeping the price high.
Those are the main causes of the fuel prices, limiting trucks and SUV's to 60mph would have very limited impact. You're really talking pennies. Now to the individuals driving them it would save them money, but that is their personal pocketbook. Them driving slower isn't gonna save YOU anything you'd notice.
THere is no abuse of any loop holes until you start looking at trucks like the International or F650, less than that it's just a dang pick-up. It may haul a gooseneck but it's not anywhere near the tonnage of a "truck".

[sno_duc]

I don't have a problem with an honest to god pick-up.
I've owned one for the last thirty years. They're are very useful.
What I have a problem with is the way the auto industry in general and Detroit in particular has gamed the rules to get around the CAFE standards.
For your reading enjoyment 
If it walks like a duck and quacks it's a duck. If it's painted red, makes glorious sounds and puts an ear to ear grin on the riders face it's a Duc.
A lot of vehicles classed as " light trucks" would be absolutely useless for doing any real work. Try hauling a 1/2 yard of gravel in your Subaru, or a cord of oak.

Yes I'm painfuly aware that crude oil is a gobal commodity. The fact that we import well over half of what we use makes us very vulnerable.

[Scottish]

Ah!!!! Now we're getting somewhere! Yes, importing such a large percentage sucks balls. We do need to develope our own oil, AND alternative fuels. In the mean time though I do believe in a free market. Many of these vanity trucks will be replaced by more sensible transportation. Remember how the beautiful GTOs and Chevelles were selling for nothing at the end of the 70's. Same thing will happen again, no need to involve gov. in the equation.

[Speedbag]

Ah!!!! Now we're getting somewhere! Yes, importing such a large percentage sucks balls. We do need to develope our own oil, AND alternative fuels. In the mean time though I do believe in a free market. Many of these vanity trucks will be replaced by more sensible transportation. Remember how the beautiful GTOs and Chevelles were selling for nothing at the end of the 70's. Same thing will happen again, no need to involve gov. in the equation.

And thus I shall have that new Shelby GT500 I lust after..... 

[S4ROB]

Why don't we start looking and drilling for oil?  I am sick and tired of depending on other countries (Saudi Arabia) for fuel.
I heard today, Barack Obama said, "In fact, if we started drilling today, we wouldn't see a drop of oil for seven years, and even then it would have little if any impact on prices."

Thats not what America is about. It is about doing things that no other country can do.

Building the Suez Canal might take to long and cost to much. But we did it.

I think we have a bunch of idots running this country and it has to change.

[Speedbag]

I think we have a bunch of idots running this country and it has to change.

We have a winner!!!!

[DucDucDave]

And thus I shall have that new Shelby GT500 I lust after..... 

I have a regular ol' '07 Mustang GT -- not a 500, I realize, but here's the story: 

Got a stupid $85 "waste of finite resources" ticket in Snowflake, AZ, headed to Santa Fe.  I was lucky, as the officer radard me at 74 in a just went from 65 to 55 zone.  I spent the rest of the trip (to Santa Fe & back to Phoenix) using my cruise control and strictly obeying speed limits.  Cruise is the only way to do that, I'm pretty sure.  Anyway, I got 30.1 MPG out of the V8, and wrung 425 miles out of a single tank! 

So, go get your GT500 and feel good about saving the planet while reducing our dependence on foreign oil (and solar)!

By the way, I'm not voting for lower speed limits -- just making myself feel OK about driving a V8, which is becoming just about as socially acceptable as BBQing kittens.

Just don't ask about my in-town mileage.

[S4ROB]

 

I just don't like the  "We can't do it" attitude. Never did.

Just look what the Floundering Fathers have done here at the DMF