Insurance Institute for Highway Safety workers wrote three papers that argue that increase from 55 to 65 mph (89 to 105 km/h) on rural roads led to a 25% to 30% increase in deaths (1/3 from increased travel, 2/3 from increased speed) [17] while the full repeal in 1995 led to a further 15% increase to fatalities.[17] In contrasting work, researchers at University of California Transportation Science Center argue that the interstates in question are only part of the equation, one also must account for traffic moving off the relatively more dangerous country roads and onto the relatively safer interstates. Accounting for this they find that raising rural speed limits to 65 mph (105 km/h) caused a 3.4% to 5.1% decrease in fatalities.[20]
In 1986, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, reported that the United States Department of Transportation's Office of Driver Research found total fuel savings to be 1% and that "independent studies" found a 0.5% savings.
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