I guess no one gets it. “Lets go faster” (Gazette editorial, Feb. 13) advocates raising the speed limit to 70 on the ICC, and, of course, other roads to follow. The writer must have been born way after 1973 when OPEC began the everlasting affects on our lives with its power of a barrel of crude oil.

I set my cruise control at 64 mph, 9 miles above the speed limit on I-270, ICC and the Beltway. Yet, I’m passed left and right by drivers going at least 70 to 80 mph and more. The increase in accidents is a pain on any of these highways when traffic jams occur because of someone’s stupidity and lousy driving habits, but my concern is for my children and their children and so on.

Let’s just burn away this precious resource of crude oil because we want to get to that traffic jam 2 minutes sooner. Studies by the Department of Energy show that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.21 per gallon at $3 per gallon. And we haven’t seen $3 per gallon in a awhile. The editorial states “...past concerns about fuel consumption are less of a concern nowadays with more-efficient vehicles.” Yeah, let’s just burn away the fuel we are saving by going faster.

Finally, a week before in the Gazette, a letter to the editor stated, “I’m fine with the proposed increase of the speed limit ... as long as drivers move to the right so I can pass.” No one gets it.

Bob Kanner, Clarksburg