Posted on 06/27/2005 8:37:42 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
Drivers in Texas, Iowa, and Indiana will enjoy higher speed limits next month as legislation raising the top speeds on rural roads takes effect.
On Friday, Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) signed HB 2257 into law making 80 MPH the maximum allowable speed in the state. Rural portions of I-10 and I-20 will enjoy the new top speed, while other rural roads could see the limit rise to 75 MPH. Both the state House and Senate adopted the legislation without opposition last month.
On July 1, a law signed by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) creating a 70 MPH speed limit goes into effect. This new limit better reflects the actual speed of cars on rural highways which averages 69.8 MPH according to sensors embedded into the pavement.
In May, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed SB 217 into law raising the maximum limit from 65 MPH to 70 MPH in areas with less than 50,000 population. The law also raises the limit for trucks from 60 to 65 MPH, and gives a 10 MPH boost to several roads currently posted at 55 MPH. The state will begin placing the higher-limit signs on July 5.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewspaper.com ...
I would support the death penalty for such an offense.
70-75 is quite a bit...'esp when those semi's tend to cut in front of people trying to pass other semi's...and I won't even mention semi's trying to pass on a hill...:)
Ya hate it when that happens.
One can only hope.
If you want to go 100+ in a Crown Vic, it is easily done:
Crank "caster" up from 5.5 to 7.5
Install Bilstein HD shocks and (preferably) cop springs
Use speed-rated tires (W or Z) with 40-43 lbs pressure
Be certain ball joints are healthy (and if need be, install Moog)
After that, piece of cake. Of course, the civilian version will cut out at 107, but you can buy a salvage cop computer and increase that to 129 (or slip your Ford guy a 20 and he'll set you up).
OTOH, I don't see a need to go that fast. Still...
"German drivers generally don't dart in and out of traffic because the slower drivers stay to the right"
Passing on the right on the Autobahn can result in a 4 month (minimum) license suspension and a heavy fine.
MHT wrote:
The death rates in those states will go up proportionally, especially if semi-trucks are given the same limits and unlimited lane usage.
REPLY:
You can just say no and boycott these states.
Better still drive in states with real slow speed limits so you can have a Feel Good Experience that your saving the world.
Liberal environuts penalized us years ago with 55 mph.
SOMETHING TO CHEW ON:
Speeds increase fatalities do not; NHTSA warning fails to pan out
June 14, 1999
By Henry Payne
Copyright 1999 Scripps Howard News Service
Washington, DC - In 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration predicted that repeal of the federally mandated 55-mph speed limit would result in an additional 6,400 highway deaths each year.
The prediction was about 6,400 deaths too high.
This month, NHTSA announced that fatality rates on U.S. highways had fallen to 41,480 in 1998 from 41,817 in 1995, even as every state but Hawaii scrapped the 55-mph speed limit. For the third year in a row, the fatality rate per 100 million passenger miles dropped _ from 1.8 in 1995 to 1.6 in 1998, a record low.
State highway engineers say the reduction in fatalities is evidence that the 55-mph mandate, enacted in 1974, was ill-considered, and states' rights advocates criticize the agency for politicizing the 1995 debate with apocalyptic predictions of carnage on the highways.
As for the agency's 1995 prediction of 6,400 more deaths, Hurd says it was "just a worst-case scenario."
But in November 1995, the 6,400 figure was the centerpiece of a public campaign by NHTSA and the insurance industry to oppose a bill in Congress that would allow states to set their own speed limits. Safety activists warned of a blood bath.
On NBC's "Today Show," Judith Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a lobbying group for the insurance industry, said higher speed limits would cause "6,400 added highway fatalities a year and millions more injuries."
After President Clinton reluctantly signed the legislation, Ralph Nader concluded, "History will never forgive him and his allies in Congress for this assault on the sanctity of human life."
In addition to the record low fatality rate, continuing a steady downward trend from 6.1 deaths per 100 million passenger miles in 1956 when construction began on the interstate highway system, NHTSA's 1998 report also shows record lows for injuries and crashes.
In Colorado, where highway fatalities have fallen by 11 percent since the state hiked its speed limit to 75 in 1996, Colorado Department of Transportation engineer John Muscatell says the problem with the 55-mph limit was that it "caused a greater differential in speed."
On highways designed for 65-75 mph, Muscatell says the 55 limit is artificially low, thus widening the speed "band" and increasing the incidence of rear-end crashes and side swipes. "I want to see everyone at the same speed. I want to keep everyone within a 10 mile per hour band of each other," says Muscatell.
Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., a proponent of states' rights legislation, says such interpretations of the data are flawed.
In a study of the declining fatality rates, Moore writes that "one impact of raising speed limits on highways is to reduce the travel times on those roads, thus drawing traffic from the more dangerous secondary roads." As a result, he concludes, higher speed limits in many states result in a few more deaths on interstates, "but far fewer deaths on statistically more dangerous back roads."
He also notes that in the 11 states that have posted speed limits higher than 70, fatality rates have actually declined faster than the rates in states that have not.
Asked if Colorado would ever consider lowering its 75 mph speed limit to 55 again, transportation engineer Muscatell says: "Whatever we're doing is working. We're not going to change a thing."
If driving 55mph saves 20%, that coupled with some moderate Corporate Average Fuel Economy(Cafe Standards) we could get rid of the Saudi Arabia imports all togeather. I hate being under the thumb of the Saudi Regime.
The 18% import figure was grabbed from here I also found similar but smaller numbers like 16% and 14.5% on other sites.
Why not wind powered cars with sails like ships.
I don't like 55 miles per anything.
Had my fill of that bunk a long time ago.
My Jag gets better mileage at 80 than it does at 70
When someone else pays for my fuel I will posibly care about what they think about fuel mileage.
Until then I will drive at whatever speed I see fit.
My time is much more valuable than a mile or two a gallon savings.
First, crash statistics supplied by the auto industry versus government versus insurance tests are not accurate or consistent because some measure head-on crash results. By contrast, most "head on" crashes are really not directly head-on and only those tests which use angled "head-on" results are reflective of real life.
Secondly, Fred Barnes said that the dirty little secret of improved mpg was that newer cars are smaller and made of lighter weight metal. As a result of these changes of the early 1970's, 55,000 more people have died in auto accidents. This was during a time when the speed was generally 55. I don't know what the effect of increasing the speed limit was but, given smaller and lighter cars, the result could not have been positive.
The damage caused by weight on concrete at different speeds is also not discussed; however, damaged roads versus newer roads also must produce different fatality rates. I know that different semi truck designs do different amount of damage to concrete. Adding 1" more thickness of concrete would also improve the durability and consequently, fatality rates on highways but no one wants to take on the cost of that.
You are absolutely correct that differential speed is the most important factor other than drunk and/or substance-impaired drivers in the number of accidents.
Please cite your so-called studies and the tiime-frame in which the studies were made if you can. Otherwise, I believe the previous posted is correct. At least, that is what my mechanics tell me about our vehicles and we have quite a few in the company.
The night speed limit is now 65 mph for autos. Has been for some time.
allah akbar
The driving qualification tests for most of Western Europe are significantly more difficult that is required for U.S. drivers. That is one of the reasons not often cited why the Western European accident rates are lower than in the U.S.
Also, the penalties for causing an accident are more severe than in the U.S.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.