Good thing he's retiring

Virginia Senator (a Republican!) John Warner is asking the Energy Secretary to look into reinstating a national speed limit.

For those who are too young to remember, there used to be a speed limit of 55 mph everywhere. Yeah, it sucked all right. If I recall correctly, it came into existence during the 1970's because the nanny-staters wanted everyone to slow down to supposedly save lives (where do you think the old expression "Speed kills" comes from?). In fact, it did just the opposite for a few reasons, but mainly because there was a larger differential in speeds of vehicles on the same road.

When Republicans took control of Congress following the 1994 elections, they repealed the national speed limit. I think pretty much everyone (again, except for the nanny-staters) loves it, as it allows states to set their own speed limits. Now along comes Warner wanting to bring it back, ostensibly to force people to save gas. I'm glad the old fart is retiring this year.