Hammering down the highway to Sammy Hagar’s rocking signature song I can’t drive 55, Americans have hit the gas in rebellion to a law put into place four decades ago that set the maximum national speed limit at 55 mph. This year marks this historic moment when President Richard M. Nixon signed into law a mandate that restricted our need for speed.

Looking to fend off the oil crisis of the Nixon era, the law was not so much put in place for safety’s sake, but rather in an effort to conserve fuel on a national level during the 1973 oil crisis, when gas prices quadrupled.

Since this time America’s ability to abide by this law, let’s say has been bit of a challenge. With that said nearly two decades ago the states began to rebel and the law was repealed. Since then, two-thirds of the U.S. states have picked up the pace and significantly raised the speed limit on many stretches of highways and bi-ways to 70 mph.

So who is currently doing it bigger, better, and faster?? Well who else other than the Lone Star state of Texas. With the nation’s top speed limit the high-speed portion of Texas State Highway 130, which stretches 91 miles between San Antonio and Austin, became the nation’s first 85-mph toll road in late 2012.  Texas’ 85 mph speed limit is listed as the highest in the U.S. With an average top speed for all three types of roadways at 78.3, Texas is nearly 2 mph greater than the next-fastest state, Idaho, which has a top limit of 80 mph and an average top speed of 76.7 mph.

In the slower lanes of our nation Alaska and the District of Columbia have yet to exceed the four decade old law and are still cruising along at maximum speed of 55 mph. Others however are following in the foot-steps of Texas and have bumped their limit up to 80 mph in states such as Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.  A dozen more have followed suit, setting the limit at 75 mph. And many on the urban and rural interstates and other limited-access roads have now been raised to 70 mph according to the GHSA (Governors Highway Safety Association).

Safety advocates generally don’t regard raising speed limits in a favorable light. At the time Texas released its 85 mph speed limit, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman Russ Rader said in a statement that, “the research is clear that when speed limits go up, fatalities go up.” With that said, the 55 mph national limit wasn’t really set for safety’s concern, but was put into place by Nixon in an effort to conserve fuel on a national level during the 73’ oil crisis, when gas prices sky rocketed and there was a shortage.

With technology allowing engineers to produce vehicles at speeds unimagined in years past and with Americans need for speed, should we unleash the beast and allow limits of 85 mph and beyond?  Or should we contain our need and the imagination of the engineer and drive in the conservative lane?