Comments on: Speed Limits and Straw Men http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2008/08/27/speed-limits-and-straw-men/ Blogging about liberty, anarchy, economics and politics Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:00:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: John Petrie http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2008/08/27/speed-limits-and-straw-men/comment-page-1/#comment-4230 John Petrie Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:37:37 +0000 http://nothirdsolution.com/2008/08/27/speed-limits-and-straw-men/#comment-4230 This reminds me of something that Brad at WendyMcElroy.com linked to a while back, giving us some actual calculations on the proposed 55 mph national speed limit. It was by stand-up comedian Tim Slagle, <a href="http://www.libertyunbound.com/archive/2008_07/reflections.html" rel="nofollow">writing for <i>Liberty</i> magazine</a> (yes, stand-up comedians are often wiser than politicians and environmentalists): <blockquote>The [Associated Press] article states that slowing a car from 70 to 60 miles per hour will give you a 2 to 3% gain in efficiency. That paltry benefit is precisely the reason Americans refuse to slow down. It is simple economics; if gas costs $3.33 a gallon, a 3% savings amounts to around a dime a gallon. If your car burns gas at a rate of three gallons an hour, the 30 cents you save by driving 10 mph slower will take ten minutes out of your life. Very few people in America are willing to sell their time for three cents a minute.</blockquote> This reminds me of something that Brad at WendyMcElroy.com linked to a while back, giving us some actual calculations on the proposed 55 mph national speed limit. It was by stand-up comedian Tim Slagle, writing for Liberty magazine (yes, stand-up comedians are often wiser than politicians and environmentalists):

The [Associated Press] article states that slowing a car from 70 to 60 miles per hour will give you a 2 to 3% gain in efficiency. That paltry benefit is precisely the reason Americans refuse to slow down. It is simple economics; if gas costs $3.33 a gallon, a 3% savings amounts to around a dime a gallon. If your car burns gas at a rate of three gallons an hour, the 30 cents you save by driving 10 mph slower will take ten minutes out of your life. Very few people in America are willing to sell their time for three cents a minute.

]]> By: Nathan McKaskle http://www.nothirdsolution.com/2008/08/27/speed-limits-and-straw-men/comment-page-1/#comment-4228 Nathan McKaskle Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:29:39 +0000 http://nothirdsolution.com/2008/08/27/speed-limits-and-straw-men/#comment-4228 You might like my articles on the roads: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mckaskle1.html http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mckaskle2.html You might like my articles on the roads:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mckaskle1.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mckaskle2.html

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