I think it was Sammy Hagar who first sang “I Can’t Drive 55″ in the mid-1980’s, a few years after the first oil shocks drove the federal government to reduce the speed limit on the Interstate to 55 miles per hour.
Hagar updated the song in 2001, switching the number to 65 for a NASCAR album.
It’s not my absolute favorite driving song. I’d take Steve Earle’s version of Dave Dudley’s “Six Days on the Road,” but Hagar’s anthem is very popular.
Bob McDonnell obviously likes the tune and is performing a cover for his gubernatorial campaign.
In his transportation plan unveiled this week, McDonnell proposed raising the speed limit from 65 mph to 70 on select Virginia highways.
In all the back and forth about McDonnell’s proposed privatization of ABC and the Democratic counterclaim that he’s willing to starve education to pay for roads, there has been very little attention paid to McDonnell’s suggestion about raising the speed limit.
I’m not sure that this has much to do with getting roads built or improving mass transportation, but I have a hunch that this will be a genuine political plus.
It won’t be that helpful in parts of the state where traffic makes 45 mph an enviable goal and every afternoon feels like six days on the road.
But McDonnell’s proposal will resonate in large area of Virginia where people wonder why they can’t drive as fast as they can in North Carolina.
And while the punditocracy will be debating whether he’s really provided a permanent source of funding for transportation or offered a more artful smoke and mirrors presentation, there are a lot of voters who will know him as the guy who wants to keep the rest stops open and let them drive 70 miles a hour.
If he’s elected, maybe Hagar will be singing at the inauguration while McDonnell plays drums.
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