The Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was passed in 1974. Under this act, states would only get federal highway funding if they set a speed limit of 55 mph on all four-lane highways. Why would the federal government deny funding the states instead of just directly setting the speed limit?

The federal government wanted to better allocate money by cutting down on highway funding.

State legislatures were not likely to reduce the speed limit to 55 mph on their own.*********

States were thought to have the right to regulate their own intrastate highways.

Studies by the federal government indicated that driving 65 mph was unsafe

Nope.

Think about the powers the Constitution grants to the states.

The correct answer is: State legislatures were not likely to reduce the speed limit to 55 mph on their own.

The reason why the federal government chose to deny funding to states instead of directly setting the speed limit is because they wanted to encourage states to comply with the desired speed limit voluntarily. By denying highway funding, the federal government created a strong incentive for states to adopt the 55 mph speed limit in order to receive the much-needed funds for their transportation projects.

Directly setting the speed limit at a federal level would have been seen as an overreach of federal authority, as states have the right to regulate their own intrastate highways. By withholding highway funding, the federal government was able to indirectly influence state legislatures to take action.

It is worth noting that studies conducted by the federal government may have also influenced the decision to establish a 55 mph speed limit. These studies likely provided evidence that driving at higher speeds, such as 65 mph, was deemed to be unsafe, which further justified the need for a reduced speed limit.

In summary, by denying funding to states, the federal government aimed to incentivize adherence to the desired speed limit without directly imposing it and respecting states' rights to regulate their own intrastate highways.