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Where's russotto dammit?
Part of the problem is that Europe is on average about 10 times as densely populated as the US.
When the US instituted a national speed limit, it was about as ridiculous a concept as could be imagined, for certain states. Like Nevada, where you could drive for 4 hours in a straight line and not see anyone else. The defacto limit was probably twice the actual lmit on some of those roads.
The people rejected the national speed limit via civil disobedience. In places like Nevada, only about 5% of the cars drove 55. In places like northern Jersey, where the population is as dense as, say, Belgium, the compliance level was closer to 20%.
The people spoke loudly with their form of civil disobedience, and when they speak that loudly, they are sending a strong message. In this case it was more than preference: it was productivity. Cut 10% off the time to truck stuff across a state, and it makes things cheaper, opens up possibilities. Get people to work a little faster, and you can expand your possible employee base a few miles.
The highly individualistic nature of Americans allows them to send messages to the lawmakers through their casual law-breaking.
Lastly, with my W-rated tires and $1000 suspension, I'm going to tool up the road at whatever rate I please, and I'm not going to hurt myself or others. (I only tear out if the road is basically deserted, so get off yer high horse.)
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