The National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was a provision of the federal government of the United States 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act that effectively prohibited speed limits higher than . It was drafted in response to oil price spikes and supply disruptions during the 1973 oil crisis and remained the law until 1995. While federal officials hoped gasoline consumption would fall by 2.2%, the actual savings were estimated at between 0.5% and 1%. The law was widely disregarded by motorists nationwide, and some states opposed the law, but many jurisdictions discovered it to be a major source of revenue. Actions ranged from proposing deals for an exemption to de-emphasizing speed limit enforcement. The NMSL was modified in 1987 and 1988 to allow up to limits on certain limited-access rural roads. Congress repealed the NMSL in 1995, fully returning speed limit-setting authority to the individual states. The law's safety benefit is disputed as research found conflicting results. The power to set speed limits historically belonged to the states. Prior to the NMSL, the sole exception to this occurred during World War II, when the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation established a national maximum "Victory Speed Limit" of , in addition to gasoline and tire rationing, to help conserve fuel and rubber for the American war effort. Although it was widely disregarded by many motorists, the Victory Speed Limit lasted from May 1942 to August 14, 1945, when the war ended. Immediately before the NMSL became effective, speed limits were as high as . (Kansas had lowered its turnpike speed limit from before 1974.) Montana and Nevada generally posted no speed limits on highways, limiting drivers to only whatever was safe for conditions. 1973—55 mph National Speed Limit As of November 20, 1973, several states had modified speed limits: : Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Washington : North Carolina and Oregon California lowered some limits to . In late November 1973, Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe recommended adoption of a statewide limit. On December 4, the Texas Highway Commission, with a 3–0 vote, adopted this speed limit, citing unsafe speed differentials between the flow of traffic and people driving too slowly to comply with Nixon's and Briscoe's requests for voluntary slowdowns. The legality of the measure was questioned, and two Texas legislators threatened to sue to block the limit. By December 6, Texas Attorney General John Hill