"Peter" wrote in message
...

No, technically there never was a federal speed limit of 55 mph. The
law just specified that in order to qualify for federal transportation
funds each state had to pass and enforce a 55 mph speed limit. Of
course in practice this amounted to the same thing since no state
wanted to give up its fair share of those funds (coming from their
own residents). But it was done this way specifically because the
federal government did not have the authority to directly specify
speed limits within the individual states.

Now *that* would be more accurate than my drivel...

Rich S.