Current state speed limit increase proposals

[nexus73]

https://kfgo.com/news/articles/2019/feb/13/speed-limit-increase-bill-defeated/
https://www.kxnet.com/news/bismarck-news/speed-limit-increase-bill-fails-in-nd-house-on-a-tie-vote/1779325961

Well, it looks like another failure of raising the speed limit to 80 mph on North Dakota's interstates... 

ND had a MJ legalization bill which failed by 4 votes in their House.  No weed!  No speed!  LOL!

Rick

[Great Lakes Roads]

WV proposes to raise the speed limits on interstates to 75 mph EXCEPT Interstate 70...

http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/community/2019/03/bill-in-the-west-virginia-legislature-would-allow-west-virginia-department-of-transportation-to-increase-speed-limits-to-75-mph-changes-on-interstate-70-unlikely/

[Roadgeekteen]

WV proposes to raise the speed limits on interstates to 75 mph EXCEPT Interstate 70...

http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/community/2019/03/bill-in-the-west-virginia-legislature-would-allow-west-virginia-department-of-transportation-to-increase-speed-limits-to-75-mph-changes-on-interstate-70-unlikely/

Well I-70 in mostly urban.

[kphoger]

It's also a short connection between two states that aren't 75 mph.

[1995hoo]

IIRC from our 2017 trip, the I-64 part of the West Virginia Turnpike was mostly posted at 60 mph. Hard to imagine that getting 75 or even 70.

[Roadgeekteen]

It's also a short connection between two states that aren't 75 mph.

In that case, are they increasing I-470?

[JREwing78]

It's also a short connection between two states that aren't 75 mph.

In that case, are they increasing I-470?

To be determined. The law authorizes the DOT secretary to consider applying 75 mph speed limits "where appropriate". It doesn't require them to be posted. Much like Michigan's slow rollout of 75 mph speed limits, I suspect West Virginia is not going to be in a great hurry to deploy them.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Kinda surprised that Massachusetts is thinking about raising the speed limit to 70 mph from 65 mph... 

http://www.landlinemag.com/story.aspx?storyid=74033#.XK1wNphKhPY

[PHLBOS]

Kinda surprised that Massachusetts is thinking about raising the speed limit to 70 mph from 65 mph... 

http://www.landlinemag.com/story.aspx?storyid=74033#.XK1wNphKhPY

If such does indeed becomes reality; it'll be the highest speed limit ever posted in the Bay State.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Good news for Oklahoma drivers!! The gov. signed a bill to raise the speed limit from 75 mph to 80 mph on the turnpikes & raise the freeways from 70 mph to 75 mph...

https://www.krmg.com/news/local/stitt-signs-bill-increasing-turnpike-speed-limit/n6wkts1XckkfZyOnbV2G4I/
http://www.kswo.com/2019/04/18/gov-kevin-stitt-signs-bill-raise-speed-limit-turnpikes-some-highways/

[Plutonic Panda]

Unfortunately it won't raise it on all turnpikes though it should. Even the urban turnpikes should be 80MPH as traffic already moves at that speed. I am anxious for OkDOT to make I-35 and I-40 75MPH through the state. I-35 for the most part through OKC should be 70 MPH with some exceptions. There are some sketchy parts of I-40 I can understand a lower speed limit. The new Crosstown should be 75MPH.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

[FrCorySticha]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

I'm really surprised with ND's reticence to 80 MPH. As you point out, SD is now 80, MT is now 80, and WY is now 80. As far as I know, the accident and fatality rates really haven't changed all that much in those states, especially on the long, open, straight stretches of highway that make up much of these states' Interstate system.

[Plutonic Panda]

Here comes Forbes with an anti-speed limit increase piece:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2021/02/10/why-experts-say-raising-speed-limits-is-a-bad-idea/?sh=37968c393e2f

[hotdogPi]

That article says nothing about frequency of collisions. Of course a higher speed one is going to be more severe; nobody is arguing against that.

Imagine that the speed limit is 55, and everyone is going 70, except for the 10% that strictly follow 55 mph. There's a 15 mph difference here. If the speed limit is increased to 70, traffic will average 74 mph (it's a 2-3 mph increase for every 10 mph increase in the speed limit), and those following the speed limit will be going 70 – only 4 mph difference, and much less chance of a crash.

[Roadgeekteen]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

Can't believe ND and Nebraska aren't 80, these plains states seem like better fits for 80 than Montana or Idaho.

[Pink Jazz]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

Can't believe ND and Nebraska aren't 80, these plains states seem like better fits for 80 than Montana or Idaho.

I think New Mexico can handle 80 mph limits on I-25 between Las Cruces and ABQ, I-10 between the AZ border and Las Cruces (with Lordsburg and Deming raised to 70 mph), and I-25 between Las Vegas and Raton.  Arizona is a bit more difficult, with the easiest being I-8 between Yuma and Casa Grande, but the reluctance of the state's lawmakers to change the state's criminal speeding law has been a roadblock to increasing speed limits in the state.

[vdeane]

Here comes Forbes with an anti-speed limit increase piece:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2021/02/10/why-experts-say-raising-speed-limits-is-a-bad-idea/?sh=37968c393e2f

Ah, yes, the IIHS.  Not exactly an unbiased source.

Have they considered that the reason people driver faster than the speed limit is because freeway speed limits in much of the US are so slow that they're a joke?

[jakeroot]

Imagine that the speed limit is 55, and everyone is going 70, except for the 10% that strictly follow 55 mph. There's a 15 mph difference here. If the speed limit is increased to 70, traffic will average 74 mph (it's a 2-3 mph increase for every 10 mph increase in the speed limit), and those following the speed limit will be going 70 – only 4 mph difference, and much less chance of a crash.

I have a hard time believing that everyone going 55 will automatically go 70 simply because a sign says its okay. We always argue that drivers go the speed they feel is safe, and I'd argue that many drivers go 55 to 65 because that's the speed they feel is safe. Be it because of their age, because of their car, or because of some other factor.

Now yes, increasing the limit would likely decrease the number of drivers going substantially slower than the prevailing speed because some drivers will indeed speed up when the limit is increased. But I'm not totally convinced there are enough "speed limiters" out there for that to make a reasonable impact on roadway safety.

I am personally in favor of variable limits. During the day, 70 to 80 is perfectly safe, but a limit of 60 or 50 seems wiser during peak hours to help tighten everyone up and use more of the road. Not to mention cutting down on drivers flying head-first into stopped traffic (this is mostly unavoidable but maybe we can get drivers to slow down a little?).

[1995hoo]

I think there are really four groups of drivers:

(1) People who, for whatever reason (elderly, POS car, third-world immigrant not accustomed to fast highways, whatever), are afraid to go even as fast as the speed limit under ordinary conditions.

(2) People who feel they should obey the speed limit because it's the law but would like to go faster.

(3) People who generally go at a speed they deem comfortable and are willing to exceed the speed limit by some amount to do that as long as it isn't by so much that they might stand out (or, in some cases like Virginia's reckless driving law, they might risk a more severe ticket).

(4) People who don't care what the speed limit is and will just go as fast as they want.

I'd argue that groups 1 and 4 are the real problem groups. If you increase the speed limit, the average speed of traffic will increase due to group 2 speeding up and, to a much lesser degree, some people in group 3 speeding up. Group 1 won't speed up and group 4 were already going faster anyway.

[Revive 755]

(4) People who don't care what the speed limit is and will just go as fast as they want.

Chicagoland has a lot from this group.

[CoreySamson]

(2) People who feel they should obey the speed limit because it's the law but would like to go faster.

That's me. I know the day I speed a police officer will pull me over.

(3) People who generally go at a speed they deem comfortable and are willing to exceed the speed limit by some amount to do that as long as it isn't by so much that they might stand out.

This is the rest of Houston.

I agree with 1 that the difference between speeds is a better metric to gauge traffic safety than the speed itself. For example, driving on US 59 in east Texas feels and is safer than driving on rural TX-288. Why? With US 59, the speed limit is 75. The speed is fast enough that groups 2, 3 and even 4 travel around the same speed and more likely will not be as aggressive passing. TX-288 is 65 mph. When I'm doing 65 on 288, people from groups 3 and 4 going 75 or even 80 blow by me because they are comfortable going faster than the speed limit.

And here's the kicker. I pass more people on US 59 than I do on 288, even though 288 has a bit more traffic! When I'm going the speed limit on 59, the other drivers who are mostly from group 3 are going around 72-75 because that's the speed they feel comfortable at. So I, who likes to drive as fast as possible within the law, pass people regularly on that road. On 288, everyone passes me, even though I feel comfortable going their speed! It's rare for me to pass more than one person per 10 minutes because the speed limit is too low for the other drivers; they still feel comfortable driving 75 here, too.

I like jake's idea of variable speed limits because of this. Most roads do not have a universally safe and comfortable speed limit, because of traffic, weather, and other variables. If 288 had a speed limit of 75 during the day and 65 at night and at rush hour, that would be amazing.

[kphoger]

Ah, yes, the IIHS.  Not exactly an unbiased source.

Have they considered that the reason people driver faster than the speed limit is because freeway speed limits in much of the US are so slow that they're a joke?

Ehhhh....  For a state considering a bump in Interstate speed limit from 75 to 80 mph, I have a hard time calling the existing 75 mph limit "a joke".

75 mph is equivalent to 120 km/h, which is the maximum speed limit in Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Chile, South Africa, Morocco, Turkey...  It's technically the maximum speed limit in Mexico, but the only highway I've ever personally seen it on has since decreased it to 110 km/h.

(4) People who don't care what the speed limit is and will just go as fast as they want.

Chicagoland has a lot from this group.

Back when I lived in the Chicago area, there seemed to be a general idea that, on the expressways, 75 mph was perfectly fine but over 80 would get you a ticket–no matter what the speed limit was.  There were a few speed demons out there, but most traffic just kept it under 80.

[doorknob60]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

Can't believe ND and Nebraska aren't 80, these plains states seem like better fits for 80 than Montana or Idaho.

ND and NE seem like great fits for 80 MPH limits as well, but a comment like that suggest to me you've never been to southern Idaho, because a lot of it looks like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1957347,-115.7930363,3a,43.8y,323.01h,87.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGlDTb005ipVWhTOKsga_jg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

I-90 is Idaho's outlier (for interstates), and it never hits 80 MPH. It varies between 55 and 75.

[JayhawkCO]

https://cdllife.com/2021/north-dakota-lawmakers-consider-80-mph-speed-limits/

Here we go again with ND's speed limit increase... they are considering raising the speed limits on I-94 and I-29 in rural interstate sections from 75 to 80 with funds to upgrade barricades between lanes. They definitely need to do it since SD has raised their speed limits to 80 as well!

Can't believe ND and Nebraska aren't 80, these plains states seem like better fits for 80 than Montana or Idaho.

ND and NE seem like great fits for 80 MPH limits as well, but a comment like that suggest to me you've never been to southern Idaho, because a lot of it looks like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1957347,-115.7930363,3a,43.8y,323.01h,87.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGlDTb005ipVWhTOKsga_jg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

I-90 is Idaho's outlier (for interstates), and it never hits 80 MPH. It varies between 55 and 75.

And similarly for Montana, I think people don't realize that the eastern portion of the state IS the plains.   It's not all Legends of the Fall.

https://tinyurl.com/u9u2st2z

Chris