Speed limits: A necessary precaution, top-end limits varied widely

U.S. speed limits were originally set by states and localities. Limits rose as roads improved and cars could go faster more safely. The maximum in Minnesota, set at 25 mph in 1909, rose to 35 in 1925. Because there were so many state and local limits, however, a 1929 National Uniform Vehicle Code advised states to set speed limits of 30 mph in urban areas and 45 in rural areas. Minnesota adopted most of the code's language in 1937 before raising maximum highway speeds to 60 day/50 night two years later.

All states lowered speed limits to 35 during World War II to conserve fuel and rubber. If you were caught speeding, instead of a ticket, you lost gas ration stamps (and could buy less gas). Minnesota limits returned to 60/50 after the war and reached 65/55 in 1963. By the time the national interstate system was largely completed in the early 1970s, state maximums on rural interstates ranged from 65 to 75 mph (70 in Minnesota).

Responding to 1973 fuel shortages, Congress directed the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to withhold highway funds from states not posting maximum limits of 55 mph. When all states complied by March 1974 because they couldn't afford to lose federal funds, we had a national speed limit.

With oil shortages retreating in our collective rearview mirror and most motorists flouting the 55 limit, Congress let states raise rural interstate speeds to 65 mph in 1987 (Minnesota did so). When a 1995 law repealed maximum limits, many states quickly upped theirs. Montana had no speed limit until recently. As of a year ago, 31 states - including Minnesota and Iowa but not Wisconsin - had 70 mph (or higher) maximums on some highways.

How do U.S. and Minnesota speed limits compare? U.S. limits are similar to those in most of the world, except for large trucks. While many countries require them to go slower than cars, only 10 U.S. states (Minnesota isn't one) follow this practice.

Most Minnesota limits are set by state statute. The limits are 10 mph in alleys, 30 on residential streets, 65 on urban interstates, 70 on rural interstates and 55 on highways not specified by statutes (60 on some western/northern highways). Compared with other states, we're smack in the middle. Depending on the highway type, 12-22 states post higher limits and 11-19 set them lower.

To avoid speed limits completely, you must visit Nepal, the Isle of Man, India (Uttar Pradesh and Kerala) or Germany, where some autobahn roads have suggested limits. The fastest you can legally drive in the U.S. is 80 mph on some west Texas interstates. Austria and the United Arab Emirates have the world's highest speed limits on test highways where you zoom up to 99 mph.

Cars didn't exist when an 1861 English law limited locomotives to four mph in the country and two in town. But when cars, called "light locomotives," came along, they were subject to a revised law requiring a man with a red flag to walk ahead of them so horses knew that a horseless carriage was near. When an 1896 law eliminated the flags and raised the speed limit to 14, motorists celebrated by "racing" from London to Brighton. A car run that's commemorated that event since 1927 was the model for the annual New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run in Minnesota, which turned 21 last August.