America is a country that is torn between doing what is safe and perhaps in the best interest of the nation versus what is the easiest way to accomplish the list of demands that faces almost every American on a daily basis. Sometimes the Federal Government has to step up to the plate and mandate some laws and take some action but once they do is there any way to turn back from them? The prices at the pump are astronomical, advertisements everywhere claim that speed kills yet most people are headed for the fast lane to make that next appointment regardless of the cost.
It was not until the 1970's when the government intervened and took away the regulation of speed on the nation's highways from the State Highway Departments. This was mainly done in an attempt to conserve energy by mandating a federal speed limit maximum of 55mph. It was decided that these transportation efforts must be in place to protect the environment. The Interstate as it was known soon became the National Highway System.
The years prior to the 1974 nationalization of the maximum highway speed were referred to nostalgically as the "heyday of speed" (Schrof, 1995). States controlled the speed limits. The modal speed limits on rural interstates were 70 and 75 miles per hour (mph) for small passenger vehicles during the day, with lower limits set for larger craft and nighttime or poor weather driving or conditions (Peters, 1995). A nationalized speed limit was introduced initially due to a stagnant economic period of the 1970's. Foreign issues with the United States commitment to protect Israel resulted in being hit with an embargo led by Saudi Arabia as retaliation after Syria and Egypt attacked Israel in 1973.
This embargo was very difficult on the US because the majority of the US oil was imported from the OPEC nations. The rollover effect was a gasoline shortage. Thus, while urban drivers, unable to obtain gasoline due to local shortages, limited their driving to near the home and workplace, much of the rural gasoline supply went unused, unable to be accessed by those most in need of it (Cook, 1995).
