With gas prices at their lowest in almost four years, and the cost of a gallon of unleaded petrol closer to $2 than the previous $4, it's hard to remember that a looming global energy crisis threatened the future of the internal combustion engine 41 years ago. That's when embargos from some oil-exporting Middle Eastern countries—due in part to the United States' support for Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War—severely limited this country's supply of gasoline.

Seeking a fuel-efficient resolution, as the calendar rolled over to January 2 in 1974, President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, which lowered the national speed limit to 55 mph. It was estimated that a lower speed of travel would save motorists gas. The law went into effect later that year, beginning in March.

The effect of the law was perhaps more far-reaching than the sitting President had anticipated. Motorists barely paid attention, with some states citing exorbitant rates of non-compliance, and some states' highway patrolmen replaced citations for speeding with surcharges for wasted energy.

(Oh, and the painfully low speed limit might have had something to do with this song, too.)

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