"55MPH was just a Jimmy Carter energy initiative thing, right? OPEC Embargo related? And it just stuck?"
So in 1974, Congress (Dems) passed and the President (Nixon) signed the National Maximum Speed Law. Fatalities did in fact go WAY down (cars were also getting safer and smaller, but speed had a huge role). But this wasn't without controversy, people were pissed off! Sammy Hagar released "I Can't Drive 55" in 1984 and it was a hit! So Congress amended the NMSL in 1987 and '88 to raise the limit to 65 and repealed in 1995. It's been totally state-based ever since.
I'll say: speed limits are a BIG deal for city and suburb-dwellers because there's a huge correlation between speed of cars and likelihood of pedestrian fatality at higher speeds (as you note, pedestrian deaths are going way up, for a range of reasons) - see https://visionzeronetwork.org/resources/safety-over-speed/
I'm not sure if it's fully a ready live political issue though, because it's been 30 years available to be one at the state level and just... hasn't been. Montana has messed around with it (including having no speed limit, but then walking that back) but even there in a very red state, not really a determinedly partisan issue - https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2023-07-06/i-cant-drive-55-why-montanas-speed-limits-keep-increasing
The thing I do think could become a live political issue if/when it's raised is car size which is just out of control and very clearly leading to more deaths (both pedestrian and not-driver-of-large-car auto) but it's gonna be harrdddd to walk that one back and probably why you don't see anyone talking about it (in politics).
"55MPH was just a Jimmy Carter energy initiative thing, right? OPEC Embargo related? And it just stuck?"
So in 1974, Congress (Dems) passed and the President (Nixon) signed the National Maximum Speed Law. Fatalities did in fact go WAY down (cars were also getting safer and smaller, but speed had a huge role). But this wasn't without controversy, people were pissed off! Sammy Hagar released "I Can't Drive 55" in 1984 and it was a hit! So Congress amended the NMSL in 1987 and '88 to raise the limit to 65 and repealed in 1995. It's been totally state-based ever since.
I'll say: speed limits are a BIG deal for city and suburb-dwellers because there's a huge correlation between speed of cars and likelihood of pedestrian fatality at higher speeds (as you note, pedestrian deaths are going way up, for a range of reasons) - see https://visionzeronetwork.org/resources/safety-over-speed/
I'm not sure if it's fully a ready live political issue though, because it's been 30 years available to be one at the state level and just... hasn't been. Montana has messed around with it (including having no speed limit, but then walking that back) but even there in a very red state, not really a determinedly partisan issue - https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2023-07-06/i-cant-drive-55-why-montanas-speed-limits-keep-increasing
The thing I do think could become a live political issue if/when it's raised is car size which is just out of control and very clearly leading to more deaths (both pedestrian and not-driver-of-large-car auto) but it's gonna be harrdddd to walk that one back and probably why you don't see anyone talking about it (in politics).