Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act

By John Flaherty

About the Law

• Enacted in 1974• Required states to enforce a maximum 55

mph speed limit if they were to receive federal funding– Meant to decrease fuel consumption & increase

safety

Results?

• Very few motorists actually obeyed the imposed speed limit

• Law enforcement officers were supposed to enforce the law strictly, but like today, there was a cushion on the limit

States’ Reactions

• The states had different ways of enforcing the law– Tickets up to $500 dollars for speeding (New York)– $5-15 dollar “energy wasting fines” (Nevada,

Arizona)– Nevada eventually disregarded the law and

posted speed limits up to 70 mph

Feds vs. States

• The law states that the maximum speed limits on any road be 55 mph.

• Not only on interstate roads, but on state and county roads as well

• Most states believed that the federal government did not have the authority to impose a national speed limit