Senate Votes to End 55 mph Federal Limit

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jun 21, 1995

WASHINGTON (AP) _ It's time to get rid of the 55 mph federal speed limit for cars, the Senate decided Tuesday, moving to cancel a rule praised by safety groups but opposed and flouted by many motorists. The limit would remain for big trucks and buses.

Taking on other emotional safety issues, senators rejected, 52-45, an attempt to eliminate federal requirements for states to impose seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws. A further attempt is expected to lift the helmet law, however.

The issues came to the floor during debate over the National Highway System bill, which would provide $13 billion over two years to improve 159,886 miles of roads across the country. The House has yet to consider the measure.

Defenders of the federal speed limit said there was no question that it had saved lives since it took effect in 1974.

"If we raise the speed limit and take the limits off, from a national perspective, people will die," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, whose 22-year-old daughter was killed in an auto accident last year.

Likewise, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said getting rid of the federal limit "will directly contribute to death and injury for thousands of Americans every year."

But opponents scoffed at such assertions, framing the question as a matter of federal intrusion into states' rights rather than one of safety.

Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., called estimates of a sharp rise in deaths "ludicrous." He said the bill does not raise speed limits but merely allows the states to set them.

"I'm concerned about safety," he said. "I just happen to think that the state of Oklahoma and the state of Virginia are just as concerned about safety as the federal government."

The Senate voted 65-35 to table an effort to restore the federal limit for cars to the highway bill. Just before that, the senators voted by a narrow 51-49 to keep the limits for trucks.