What Would a 55 MPH Speed Limit do for our Cars

The government is thinking about introducing a 55 MPH speed limit on all our interstates. They think this will save gas and of course it will, but only about a 2 percent increase in fuel economy. A 2 percent increase in gas mileage just doesn't justify being much later than you'd planned because you can't go fast enough. This wouldn't help with traffic congestion either, it would make an empty highway move at a sort of medium traffic or construction level. We had a 55 mph speed limit in the 1970's and 1980's, which explains why so many of the American cars from that time were completely terrible. That meant the American car companies could get away with making very bad cars, the Germans could never have made an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme in 1978. The reason they could do this was that most owners would never drive faster than about 60 mph. German cars like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class would never have used leaf springs from a pickup truck. Our cars then weren't as safe either, Mercedes had crumple zones in the 1950's, but American cars didn't get them until the 1970's. We don't want our cars to end up getting worse because the owners would never drive them fast enough to find their flaws. If you drive a 80's car like a Cadillac Brougham or Chevy Caprice on a highway at 70-80mph they will weave, drift out of their lane, and simply feel unsafe to go in, like it could crash randomly, because of their soft, almost useless steering and suspension. That is why people in Europe and especially on Top Gear make fun of American cars and when we build junk like that we deserve it. Now is a chance for us to prove to Europe that we can make good cars, but a 55 mph speed limit will do a lot to prevent that from happening.