PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL

States' rights fever in Congress may soon claim the national speed limit, which legislators set 20 years ago as an energy conservation and safety measure. The Senate today voted 65-35 to repeal the 55 mph limit (65 mph on rural interstates) for cars, in an amendment to a federal highway bill that would let states set their own speed limits. The House has not yet taken up the measure.Safety advocates barely prevailed(51-49) in a push to keep the national limit for trucks. Also under consideration: eliminating federal seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws.

Quotes of the Day »

RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
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