Illinois may increase speed limit 70

[dirtroad66]

They need to pass chicagoland laws & downstate laws. Illinois could easily have speed limits of 70-75, south of I-70. As far as those sections of I-64 in Wayne & White Counties just b-4 entering Indiana, the State Police ticket regularly for 71 in a 65. The list of ticketing is reported in the local paper.

[tdindy88]

Based on the last page discussions about Illinois and Wisconsin I am curious: I am taking a trip up to Wisconsin this Memorial Day weekend, what should I be doing for speed there? I've driven enough in the Chicago area to know that 70 is acceptable, but I have not had much experience north of there. Interesting to to here about Wisconsin as the "Oregon of the Midwest." Is that because of the speed limits being low, the politics, both and/or more?

[thenetwork]

I'd love to see VMS signs post current storm warnings when warranted (i.e. TORNADO WARNING FOR AREA -- USE CAUTION).  Some places may already do, but I've never seen them.

[Molandfreak]

Based on the last page discussions about Illinois and Wisconsin I am curious: I am taking a trip up to Wisconsin this Memorial Day weekend, what should I be doing for speed there? I've driven enough in the Chicago area to know that 70 is acceptable, but I have not had much experience north of there. Interesting to to here about Wisconsin as the "Oregon of the Midwest." Is that because of the speed limits being low, the politics, both and/or more?

With traffic, which is usually 70. I go 70 by Wisconsin state troopers all the time and haven't been pulled over once.

[Brandon]

They need to pass chicagoland laws & downstate laws. Illinois could easily have speed limits of 70-75, south of I-70. As far as those sections of I-64 in Wayne & White Counties just b-4 entering Indiana, the State Police ticket regularly for 71 in a 65. The list of ticketing is reported in the local paper.

Hell, they could have one law for SW of the Will/Cook Line, and one law of NE of it.

[theline]

I'd love to see VMS signs post current storm warnings when warranted (i.e. TORNADO WARNING FOR AREA -- USE CAUTION).  Some places may already do, but I've never seen them.

Great idea!  I've never seen it done, but you'd think it wouldn't be hard to do.

[kphoger]

They need to pass chicagoland laws & downstate laws. Illinois could easily have speed limits of 70-75, south of I-70. As far as those sections of I-64 in Wayne & White Counties just b-4 entering Indiana, the State Police ticket regularly for 71 in a 65. The list of ticketing is reported in the local paper.

Interestingly, I-64 in Wayne County is the only location I know of where one of our drivers was pulled over for speeding.  And he was pulled over for going over the truck limit of 55 mph!

[tchafe1978]

Based on the last page discussions about Illinois and Wisconsin I am curious: I am taking a trip up to Wisconsin this Memorial Day weekend, what should I be doing for speed there? I've driven enough in the Chicago area to know that 70 is acceptable, but I have not had much experience north of there. Interesting to to here about Wisconsin as the "Oregon of the Midwest." Is that because of the speed limits being low, the politics, both and/or more?

With traffic, which is usually 70. I go 70 by Wisconsin state troopers all the time and haven't been pulled over once.

I usually drive about 70 as well, and I get passed by just as many people as I pass. Keep it in the 5-7 over range and you'll be fine. State troopers and sheriffs' deputies are usually after the excessive speeders. I did get pulled over once for doing 72 in a 65 zone once, but was just given a warning.

[hobsini2]

I'd love to see VMS signs post current storm warnings when warranted (i.e. TORNADO WARNING FOR AREA -- USE CAUTION).  Some places may already do, but I've never seen them.

Great idea!  I've never seen it done, but you'd think it would be hard to do.

Bear with me. I going to put my meteorology background to use on this response.

I like the idea of using the VMS signs for severe weather as well but one problem that I can see is the high false alarm rate for tornado warnings. This is because there are actually 3 different types of warnings.

The 1st one is a Doppler Radar Indicated Tornado Warning.  This is the most common type of tornado warning and this occurs when the radar has pick up a tornadic signature (usually radar gate to gate shear of 90+ mph or a BWER [Bounded Weak Echo Region]).  Because the radar is looking for these kind of signatures, this is what causes the most false alarms for tornado warnings.  Just because the radar "sees" a signature does not mean that there is a tornado on the ground at that time. This is why spotters and chasers are vital to the NWS.

The 2nd one is a Spotter Indicated Tornado Warning.  This is when someone has reported seeing a tornado in a specific spot. The NWS office will then compare the report with what they see on radar and issue the warning. While this is not as big a false alarm rate, one of the biggest problems is people who are not trained to actually see what they are seeing as being a rotating wall cloud or a tornado. For example, a yahoo chaser with no training could report a cold air funnel or a dust devil as a tornado because the look of it is very similar to a tornado. In reality, a cold air funnel is nothing but sinking air and is not a threat for damage. A dust devil is just high localized winds (usually about 40 to 60 mph) that kick up dust when it has been very dry. If it is not attached to the base of the cloud, it is not tornadic at all. Now you can get some dust devils that stretch very tall and last for a couple minutes but those are more like land spouts that again are not attached to the base of the cloud but can do some wind damage. These are what we call in the chasing community sheriffnadoes.  Believe it or not, about half of the police and fire officers are not trained as spotters especially in the more rural areas.

The 3rd one is relatively new in the lexicon at the NWS but is to be taken very seriously. If you see a warning with the words "Particularly Dangerous Situation".  This means that a very large violent tornado has been confirmed by spotters that has already produced damage to an area. It can also sometimes use the words "Tornado Emergency".  These warnings were used in events such as the F5 in Moore OK in 1999, the 2007 F5 in Greensburg KS, and the F4 that hit Tuscaloosa AL in 2011.

One thing that I certainly would do with the VMS signs as it pertains to severe weather though is when the SPC Convective Outlook for Day 1 has at a minimum a Moderate Risk and/or a High Risk for the area, post that alert to drivers. I would think at the very least if the driver is aware of the potential in the area, that would help.

BTW, here is what an example of the Day 1 Convective Outlook looks like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SPC_severe_outlook_04072006.png

This was April 7, 2006 which had an outbreak of 74 tornadoes over a 3 day period in 13 states.
This is the actual storm reports map for that day. Tornadoes are in red. Damaging wind is in blue. And damaging hail (3/4 of inch or bigger) is in green.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/060407_rpts.html

Sorry to go off on a tangent there.

[Revive 755]

I'd love to see VMS signs post current storm warnings when warranted (i.e. TORNADO WARNING FOR AREA -- USE CAUTION).  Some places may already do, but I've never seen them.

MoDOT did once along I-270 for the New Years Eve tornado that hit Sunset Hills - I think it was 'Tornado Warning Tune to local media' or some similar message.


As for possibly exempting the Chicagoland counties from going to 70 mph, it seems that traffic on the Tri-State generally moves faster than on the interstates outside of Chicagoland.  I would love to see what the 85th percentile speed is on I-94 in Lake County in the off peak hours.

[Brandon]

Hallej-fricking-lulliah! 

Illinois 70 mph highway speed limit bill sent to governor

The Illinois House today sent Gov. Pat Quinn legislation that would raise the speed limit on non-urban interstate highways from 65 mph to 70 mph.

A Quinn veto may not prove fatal, however.

The House vote on Wednesday was 85-30, and 71 lawmakers would be needed to overrule Quinn there. Last month, the Senate approved the measure 41-6, with 30 senators needed to override a veto.

Illinois is one of 16 states still stuck in the 1980s with a 65 mph freeway/tollway limit.

[jpi]

Yeah and PA is stuck in the 80's too and hell will freeze over if they raise the limit to 70, one reason why I LOVE living in TN!

[ET21]

I've been doing 70 in Chicagoland and 75 in the rural areas since I began driving, just because it seems I'll get driven off the road if I dare do 55-60. Night driving I usually back off to 65 in city and 70 in farms since it's dark, but still people go by doing 80-90 (EVEN IN CONSTRUCTION ZONES  )

[hobsini2]

I've been doing 70 in Chicagoland and 75 in the rural areas since I began driving, just because it seems I'll get driven off the road if I dare do 55-60. Night driving I usually back off to 65 in city and 70 in farms since it's dark, but still people go by doing 80-90 (EVEN IN CONSTRUCTION ZONES  )

With the approval and likely signing by Quinn to raise the speed limit to 70, this would actually give the ISP, IMO, a reason to crack down on people who do more than 75 in a 65 zone. Personally, I hope they do it. There is no reason why anyone needs to do more than 75 in Illinois. Period.

[kphoger]

There is no reason why anyone needs to do more than 75 in Illinois. Period.

Err??  Last time I was in Illinois, I drove I-80 all the way across (starting in the Michigan dunes), and seldom dropped below 80 mph.  Did I have a reason?  Yes:  we had an 800-mile drive to do that day, and we have two small children.  Time was of the essence.  We were going just barely above the average flow of traffic.  Didn't seem all that unreasonable at all.  I've hardly ever driven under 75 mph on the Interstates in Illinois, especially outside the Chicago area; hardly anyone I knew well while living downstate drove under 70.

[Joe The Dragon]

The tollways need to be 65 or higher.  And the other interstates in the city can be as high as 60. Make I-290 65 from at least I-294 to I-90. With IL-53 65 as well.

Last night I-90 / I-94 was open and I was able to do 65 easy. from the city (downtown) out to des plaines IL in about 30 min.

[hbelkins]

There is no reason why anyone needs to do more than 75 in Illinois. Period.

Obviously you have never driven I-57 in the southern part of the state, I-24 or I-64.

[hobsini2]

There is no reason why anyone needs to do more than 75 in Illinois. Period.

Obviously you have never driven I-57 in the southern part of the state, I-24 or I-64.

Actually I have on several occasions when going to Little Rock, Nashville or Memphis.  75 is plenty fast in Illinois.

[Henry]

There is no reason why anyone needs to do more than 75 in Illinois. Period.

Obviously you have never driven I-57 in the southern part of the state, I-24 or I-64.

Actually I have on several occasions when going to Little Rock, Nashville or Memphis.  75 is plenty fast in Illinois.

Sure, 70 would suit IL just fine; 75 would be overkill.

[agentsteel53]

I've driven both 57 and 64... they definitely can be safely handled at 80.  probably even 90.

[jeffandnicole]

Actually I have on several occasions when going to Little Rock, Nashville or Memphis.  75 is plenty fast in Illinois.

How come?  Let me guess...it's the speed you feel comfortable with, right?  So everyone else should adhere to it as well?

Illinois 70 mph highway speed limit bill sent to governor

The Illinois House today sent Gov. Pat Quinn legislation that would raise the speed limit on non-urban interstate highways from 65 mph to 70 mph.

A Quinn veto may not prove fatal, however.

The House vote on Wednesday was 85-30, and 71 lawmakers would be needed to overrule Quinn there. Last month, the Senate approved the measure 41-6, with 30 senators needed to override a veto.

Illinois is one of 16 states still stuck in the 1980s with a 65 mph freeway/tollway limit.

Not NJ.  They didn't raise their speed limit to 65 until 1997! :-)  So we're just stuck in the 90's!!

[agentsteel53]

I don't think Hawaii has 65 anywhere.  60, IIRC.

[hobsini2]

Jeffandnicole, Actually I am quite fine/comfortable with driving at 85. I have done that in Montana.

There are a couple reasons that 75 mph is plenty enough for Illinois.  First, with Illinois being one of the largest states in pop but average in land area, density of cars on the highway is a big issue.  While the larger cities in that part of the state barely break 30,000, I-57 in particular is the main north-south route that is heavily used by trucks to avoid going through St Louis which can be a bitch often enough.

Secondly, the parts of 57, 24, and 64 (not so much with 64) that were mentioned by HB Elkins are in a forested (Shawnee National Forest) and hilly area of the state. Even in daylight, you get critters that try to run over the road often down there.

And lastly, speaking as someone who drives professionally, you have to account for the mentality of the average Illinois driver, especially the 7 collar counties.  The mentality is that if the speed limit is 55 on the expressway, you can go 65-70 without being pulled over and given a ticket. In 65 zones, that jumps to 75.  If you go any higher than 70, which the mentality would be doing 75-80, you are asking for trouble. I am confident in my abilities as a driver at a high speed. I am not confident with others. Frankly, I wish half the people in this state didn't have a license with how reckless they drive especially on expressways.  I have no patience for stupid/reckless drivers and I do report them to the proper police.  To me a reckless driver is just as bad as a drunk driver.

[vdeane]

If you go any higher than 70, which the mentality would be doing 75-80, you are asking for trouble.

Except studies have proven this to be false.  People naturally drive at the speed they are comfortable at.  If you increase the speed limit to that level, they won't magically drive faster "just because".  In fact, when Michigan increased many speed limits from 55 to 70, the average speed on those roads went DOWN.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

The mentality is that if the speed limit is 55 on the expressway, you can go 65-70 without being pulled over and given a ticket. In 65 zones, that jumps to 75.  If you go any higher than 70, which the mentality would be doing 75-80, you are asking for trouble.

Urban legend.  The mentality is that 65-72 is what is most comfortable for most people on most freeways.

The only thing that increases with an increase in the speed limit...is compliance with the speed limit.  This of course means fewer tickets issued, thus less revenue for government agencies, and less profit for insurance companies...both of whom, as such, aggressively push propaganda campaigns to make you believe that everyone wants to exceed the speed limit by a certain amount, regardless of what said speed limit is.