Word: limiting
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...last week Congress determined that it could no longer keep within the bounds of the snail-paced speed limit. By a narrow margin of 217 to 206, the House voted to allow state governments to increase the limit to 65 m.p.h. on most interstate highways. The Senate followed suit by a clear majority. The new law applies specifically to rural areas, but nearly 80% of the planned 43,489 miles of the interstate system will be affected...
...increase was a victory for Congressmen from the wide open spaces of the West, where freewheeling constituents feel cooped up by the old limit. As Democrat Pat Williams of Montana explained to his more constricted colleagues, "You can stand on the highway and see the earth curve out at the end, 60 miles of straight stretch, and sometimes you traverse that entire 60 miles and you only pass two cars. My friends, on the way to talk to 20 people in Montana, I run over 15 jackrabbits." Republican Dick Cheney of Wyoming echoed his neighbor: "Our Western rural interstates...
...fast, partner, was the reply of Democrat James Howard of New Jersey. Howard, chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, has been fighting to preserve the old speed limit to preserve lives. The nation's highest rural fatality rates, he maintained, are out West: Nevada is first, followed by Utah, Alaska, Arizona and Montana. "The No. 1 cause ((of deaths)) is not drinking and driving," said Howard. "The No. 1 cause is speed...
Howard's argument is fueled by solid evidence. The National Safety Council estimates that the 55-m.p.h. limit has saved as many as 26,000 lives since 1974. Democrat William Lehman of Florida cited statistics showing that the increase from 55 to 65 will cause an additional 500 to 1,000 deaths a year. Supporting the increase, contended Lehman, was "like casting a vote in favor of crashing one or two Boeing 747s every year...
There is an outside chance that drivers may have to dawdle along at 55 despite Congress's green light for the 10-m.p.h. increase. The new speed limit is a rider to an $88 billion authorization bill for highways and mass transit that may be vetoed by the President. Ronald Reagan, who is all for upping the speed limit, feels that the bill is on the expensive side. Congressmen, however, want those federal dollars for their states, and will gun their engines to fight a veto...