[aerohead]

Supa,here are some of the articles I have.They all have to do with the 55-MPH National Speed Limit enacted in 1975 in response to the Arab Oil Embargo of October,1973.----------------------------------------- "New federal highway bill sends states mixed signals",AUTOWEEK,July 30,1990.The article discusses the U.S.Department of Transportations use of the Federal Highway Trust Fund to blackmail any states which cannot keep at least 50% of their motorists obeying the 55-mph speed limit.By this time,five states have already bailed from the system,and stand to lose $46.7 million for non-compliance.------------------------------------ CAR and DRIVER,March,1990,page 33.Boston Globe reporters rent a radar gun and clock motorists on the freeway in six states.Drivers are cruising at an ave. 66.94 mph-whether in a 55- or 65-mph zones.Saab owners are the fastest at 72.36 mph,Subaru owners crawl like ants.-------------------------------------- CAR and DRIVER,October,1990,According to a Prevention Magazine 1990 Prevention Index,only 49% of the nation's drivers drive at or below the posted speed limits.-------------------------------------- 1990 Traffic Safety Research Institute Division,Federal Highway Commission,McLean,Virginia,Survey:"Driver Speed Behavior on U.S. Streets and Highways".Only 10% of speed zones surveyed had better than 50% compliance.On average,70% of motorists exceeded the posted speed limit in urban areas.Accident rates were the highest for the slowest 5% of traffic,lowest for the 30-95 percentile range,and increased for the fastest 5% of traffic.Risk of accident is minimum near the average speed of traffic,and increases for traffic moving slower or faster than the average.-------------------------------------- AUTOWEEK,July 1,1991,page 10,"Hey Vern,why didn't we think of this before?" Turner County,Georgia Sheriff's Dept..114 speeding tickets on I-75 yield $7,200." I had heard people say it was easy money,but I had no idea it would be like this." Sheriff Lamar Whiddon.----------------------------------- AUTOWEEK,Sept.30,1991,"LEGAL AIMS",deals with expanding use of laser speed guns,Insurance Institute for Highway Safety,RADAR,a non-profit group funded by the radar detector industry,speed limit enforcement,etc..----------------------- "How fast should we go?",AUTOWEEK,April 5,1993,Allstate Motor Club polls 2278 motorists on the national speed limit:50-55(8% in favor),55-60(19%),60-65(44%),65-70(22%),70-75(6%),75-80(0.008%),80-85(0.001%),unlimited (0.001%).---------------------------- "It's time to dump the 55,or take our national speed limit,please",by Peter Egan,Road & Track,Nov.1994,PP 32,34,35.Opinion-based,defends higher speeds,as highways were designed to be safe at higher speeds.------------------------------ For safety related reading you could check on "Physics and Automobile Safety Belts",U.S.Dept. of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,72-pages of text will allow you to deduce ramifications of collisions from any velocity.----------------------- Also,"Household Vehicle Energy Consumption",Energy Information Administration,U.S.Department of Energy,will allow you to noodle statistics around different scenarios.----------------------------- Finally,you might want to look at the "National Energy Strategy",available from the National Technical Information Service,U.S.Department of Commerce,5285 Port Royal Rd.,Springfield,VA 22161.----------------------------------------- That's about it for here.If you have trouble locating articles,I can "loan" you some.I just skimmed them so you need to see them in their entirety.Best to you on the project!