Some US State Speed Limits Going Up
The Daily Auto Insider
Friday, July 21, 2006
July 2006
Speed limits on portions of some freeways around the country are rising, The Wall Street Journal reported.
For example, Texas and Michigan have recently increased speed limits on hundreds of miles of interstate highways and freeways and other states are expected to follow their lead.
Near Detroit, limits are going up from 55 miles per hour or 65 mph to 70 mph, and by November, 70 mph will be allowed on nearly 200 miles of Michigan roads, including parts of Interstate 75 and M-59, a major suburban route.
Texas has raised the limit to 80 mph along 521 miles of I-10 and I-20 in 10 rural western counties, giving them the highest speed limit in the U.S.
In September, Virginia is likely to boost the speed limit on I-85 near the North Carolina border to 70 mph from 65 mph. Other states are likely to follow suit, the story said.
The reason for the rising limits in Texas, Michigan and other states is that lawmakers say that raising speed limits will improve safety by restoring credibility to speed-limit signs and making driving speeds more uniform.
And, although transportation engineers acknowledge that raising speed limits hurts fuel efficiency, they contend that careful studies of traffic flow and driver behavior show that many speed limits are actually too low and that most drivers who exceed these limits are doing it safely, the story said.
they need to make at least 401 with 120km/h limit......but that way there would be more deaths.....
There was a video getting passed around the net where a group of people drove the speed limit on freeway in all 3 lanes. They held up traffic by a lot, it was rather amusing to watch.
They were talking about raising the limit on the 400 series hwys to 120 in most areas a few years ago. That idea was killed quickly if I recall. For the most part the OPP won't pull you over for travelling 120 without frequent lane changes or if you're going with the flow. I am not sure that there is a relation to the speed limit to the amount of deaths on those roads. Look at Montana where they have no speed limits during the day, I don't think they have a problem with speed related deaths but I could be wrong.
Bottom line, driving fast is a risk no matter what you drive or where you are. Use your head and accept the consequence when you're caught.
lets look at that this way....right now speed limits are usually 90-100km/h ...so pretty much everyone goes 115-120km/h........u put speed limit 120km/h on 401 alot of people will go 140 and even prob up.....so it gets pretty fast and boom....
p.s. i seen that video
well if they raised the limit on the 400 series highways to that of 110kph it would be no different from the Alberta 2, and New Brunswick's highway systems as they are all 110 kph, and those highways I'm talking about are smaller then the 400 series highways as most are just two lanes in each direction.
Really though most people are more focused on their driving skills when you are going faster, even this report mentioned it. Oh and Montanna dose have a set speed limit durring the day it's 85 MPH ( 145 kms ) and at night it's 75 MPH ( 130 kms ) as they tend to have animals walking round the roads at night, I have a close call in the old focus when I almost hit a cow that walked onto the highway as there was no fence.
i really need to buy a cop detactor
there is a state that has no speed limit during the day but at night it has one. I could have sworn it was Montana.
nass,Jul 22 2006, 04:40 PM Wrote:there is a state that has no speed limit during the day but at night it has one. I could have sworn it was Montana.
[right][snapback]198515[/snapback][/right]
It used to be montanna, they introduced the speed limit something like 10 or 15 years ago.
Frost__2001,Jul 22 2006, 01:37 PM Wrote:Oh and Montanna dose have a set speed limit durring the day it's 85 MPH ( 145 kms ) and at night it's 75 MPH ( 130 kms )
You got it wrong, mate. In Montana the speed limit during the day is 75 mph (120 km/h), and at night is 65 mph (105 km/h). When we drove in Montana in 1999, it seemed that locals still believed that there was no speed limit :D Driving as fast as 140 km/h was a norm there.
I wish they allowed 130 km/h speed limit on some stretches of I-5 in California.
It's kinda funny, really... they decry their dependence on foreign oil in one breath, and in the next they raise their speed limits, which lowers fuel economy further for every single car on the road.
I had the numbers stashed somewhere, but your gas mileage goes down like 4-10% when increasing speed from 90 to 100KM/H. It decreases again another 5-6% from 100 to 110, and obviously again from 110 to 120. It's the increased drag that was never meant to be encountered at those speeds that kills you. Drag increases a lot from ~ 90KM/H to 120KM/H on most passenger vehicles, be they cars, vans or pickups.
Just one of the links I've found with a quick Google search -
http://www.energy.iastate.edu/news/pr/pr...leage.html
I'll keep looking for the one study that keeps ringing bells with me.
EDIT - straight from GM -
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/enviro..._fuel_econ.html
Here's one I wanted -
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/rfgecon.htm - scroll down to where it shows the EPA tested decrease in fuel economy between 55 MPH and 70MPH.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/17-tips.htm - this one says there's a 15% decrease from 55 to 65MPH. So, take off another 10% for just 5 more MPH.
Peterbilt,Jul 23 2006, 12:45 AM Wrote:Frost__2001,Jul 22 2006, 01:37 PM Wrote:Oh and Montanna dose have a set speed limit durring the day it's 85 MPH ( 145 kms ) and at night it's 75 MPH ( 130 kms )
You got it wrong, mate. In Montana the speed limit during the day is 75 mph (120 km/h), and at night is 65 mph (105 km/h). When we drove in Montana in 1999, it seemed that locals still believed that there was no speed limit :D Driving as fast as 140 km/h was a norm there.
I wish they allowed 130 km/h speed limit on some stretches of I-5 in California.
[right][snapback]198611[/snapback][/right]
I went thru there in sept 2001. and the posted speed limit was 85 MPH, and night was 75 MPH.
Probably, local residents erected their own sign that read 85 mph :) Too bad the
Montana DOT doesn't know about it :rolleyes: