I’ve written about the benefits of driving 55 miles per hour, but I just got another good one. And if you’re feeling the crunch and the gas pump, it’s a good reason.

Each 5 miles per hour you drive over 60, you’re paying .30 cents more per gallon of gas. So if you’re paying $4.00 per gallon for gas, but cruise 70 down the freeway, you’re really paying $4.60 per gallon. That really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

In 1974, Richard Nixon imposed a nation-wide 55 mile per hour speed limit law. A congressional study showed that the 1974 law resulted in a savings of 167,000 barrels of petroleum a day, and the volume would be even greater now that there millions more cars on the road.