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by crygin 1901 days ago
The reason for the enactment of the nationwide 55mph speed limit in 1974 wasn't safety, it was oil prices.
1 comments

Yes, though like many other American reactions to the oil shock, this was pretty silly.

High petrol prices automatically discourage speeding. (Just as a carbon tax would.)

Of course, the US also had price controls on petrol. And the ensuing long queues and fights at the petrol station.

Their anarcho-capitalist utopian neighbour [1] to the north did not enact price controls for petrol, and subsequently did not see any queues or fights.

[1] Only half joking here: in many respects Canada is more what we'd call neoliberal today than the US. Compare also https://www.alt-m.org/2015/07/29/there-was-no-place-like-can...