Are You Happy With The Current Speed Limits On Highways?

No, we need autobahn type highways.

I would be happy with a lift to 75 MPH on select sections of highway by me.

I'm one of those weirdos who gets a kick from seeing how high I can drive my fuel economy in my current car[1]. I can drive for two days at 50 mph on a road trip and get 52 MPG (US) on a tank of fuel in a mid-size SUV with AWD. Yeah, I'm the guy in the right lane with a "Slow" sign in the back window :-) I'm not concerned about the maximum allowable speed. I make sure I'm not below the minimum allowed, though.

So my vote is "I don't care," because it doesn't matter to me.

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[1] This is totally different than aiming for the best fuel economy possible, and selecting a vehicle on that one criteria. I'm NOT interested in this at all.

what type of mid-size SUV @TheSteve

He has a Q5 TDI.

I think if the US had more autobahn-type highways - after a while - the luster of maxing out your speedo would wear-off eventually.

re "what type of mid-size SUV @TheSteve"

2015 Audi Q5 with 3.0L diesel engine (affected by VW/Audi scandal).

FYI, in case I wasn't clear, on a 2-day US/Canada road trip I do periodically (~1,150 miles), I'll average about 45.3 MPG (US) for the whole trip, including long slowdowns and waits at the border. For the clean, pure US-only day, I get around 50 MPG, with my best ever being nearly 52 MPG for that leg.

If I could sustain my best-ever fuel economy until I ran my tank dry, I could drive 1,016 miles on a single tank (19.8 us gallons / 75 liters). A little unlikely, considering I'm more likely to get 50 MPG than 52.

Impressive fuel economy... but Dieselgate still sucks big-time! I hope their eventual fix doesn't mess up my low fuel burn.

The problem with raising speed limits too much is that there are still a lot of vehicles that cannot actually reach those limits (Many Semi's cannot reach 80mph normally) and there are also drivers both young and not as young who simply do not - or will not drive close to 85 mph. And the problem is - unless there are more than two lanes - you get to weave in and around the cars and trucks that are slower - not so safe. A driver driving 50 in a 75 zone is actually a road hazard. Add in the occasional local law (speed traps) too. (yes - there are fewer of them though) Still- I consider some of the views from the PA TPKE to be really really nice. It is not the job of Government to make a long drive interesting - that's a job for Pedro and his Billboards.

WHile you may not realize it - roads are constructed with a certain speed limit in mind - and I doubt many had 85 as that limit - but there are still LOTS of stretches of highway where 65 is thing of the past - so a raise to 70 or 75 might be appropriate.

Germany seems to be able to get along OK with slower vehicles on the Autobahn.

I'm in favor as driving a fast as your car can go safely for the road it's on. If there were no one else around and no limit I'd happily do 150-160. Clearly, US motorists don't have the training or discipline that you see on German Autobahns, so lifting all limits isn't feasible. However, I think it might be possible to incrementally raise them in time and have US drivers do some more training. Requirements like the autobahn are keep right except to pass, yield to faster traffic by moving right quickly (I can't believe how long it takes some drivers to execute a pass), don't make sudden lane changes to the left without looking for that car coming at a pace much faster than you imagine, and don't pass on the right. I'm sure there are plenty of stretches of the US highway system that could be posted at 100MPH if drivers were better. The cars are already much better than when the roads were designed.

On a side-note, I'd vote for better drivers over faster roads, but that's just me.

Recently on my way to play golf 20 miles away I tried an experiment. I stayed in the far right lane at the posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour and counted 123 cars that passed me on the left. Time to raise highway speed limits by 10 miles per hour in my mind. With a few exceptions people drive at a speed that they feel comfortable and safe.
In addition today's cars are capable and safe at considerable speeds higher than current speed limits.

Some cities in Texas use the 85% rule. If 85% of the traffic flows on the road at 55 then the speed limit is 55 provided there are not other factors. Frisco, TX uses this method and the speed limits here typically 5 to 10 mph faster than the surrounding cities to the south for the same road. Those cities also have more speed traps coming into the cities to catch the inattentive drivers.

The service road next to Autospies HQ is 65 mph and the highway is 70. The main difference is stoplights on the service road.

Typically the police allow 10 over before bothering with a ticket on the highway. With the wide open spaces here the highways are typically built for higher speeds than 70.

I actually like current hwy speed limits.

It's the yutz's out there - who hate to move right - that make hwy driving stressful & more dangerous. If most people would just get out of their "own macho feelings" & let faster traffic pass, daily commutes would be much faster or traffic-jams could be reduced greatly.

Really, what's the point of speed limits?? We should remove all of them.