Dutch Raise Speed Limit to 74

THE HAGUE — Parliament today approved a government plan to raise the speed limit on the nation’s highways from 62 to 74 m.p.h. on May 1. The vote ended several years of debate by environmentalists, pro-auto lobbying groups and the government, which conceded that the old speed limit was widely ignored. The decision marks the demise of a measure that followed the 1973 Arab oil embargo.