Texas highway would be the first to allow 85 mph speed limit | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Can't drive 55? … 65? … 75? How about 85?

A stretch of Texas highway may soon be the first road in the country to have a posted 85 mph speed limit.

The Texas Department of Transportation said this week that part of a toll road being built between Austin and San Antonio will be tested to see if motorists can safely push it to 85.

"It was designed under extremely high design parameters," Darren McDaniel, the state's Speed Management Director told WOAI radio.

Texas and Utah are the only states with 80-mph limits on some roadways. But Texas turned heads when lawmakers gave the green light to go to 85 if needed.

"The higher the speed limit, the more accidents there are, the more injuries and the more deaths," Jerry Johns, president of the Southwest Insurance Information Institute, told Reuters last year.

Eighty-five mph would be the second-highest posted speed limit in the world, according to the European auto rental firm Rhino Car Hire, Reuters reported. Some roads in Poland reportedly allow speeds of about 86 mph.

Texas hopes the faster toll road will help relieve one of the country's most congested interstates, between Austin and San Antonio.

"It's in a straight, flat area," TxDOT spokesman Mark Cross told Yahoo. "Safety is a priority. We want to make sure people understand that."

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2/15/05 | DesertFyreWolf
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With modern cars and the safety equipment therein, there's no reason not have this Nation-wide.

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I'd rather live free in a dangerous world than safely as a slave.

I've driven that stretch of I-35 many times. It's so straight and flat that it induces hypnosis. Maybe not the best choice for an 85mph test.

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I think the days of driving 65 are almost over, hell here in Phoenix people are driving like 15-20 mph over the limit. By laws yea you are suppose to do the speed limit, but if you can't keep up with the flow of traffic, keep on the far right hand of the lanes. But the cops could pull over the slow ones for not keeping up?

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2/15/05 | DesertFyreWolf
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5x W.A.I. Winner

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I think it depends on the area.

You're far better off driving faster out West than you are, say, in the Northeast.

As for: There will be many more deaths... - quote.. They said the same thing about raising it from 55 to 65. The accident rates actually went down.

One thing that they do in Europe that the Georgia DOT is looking to try here in Atlanta is variable speed limits. They'd adjust the speed limit based on the driving conditions. It makes so much more sense to me. Approaching Atlanta and it's around rush hour? Slow everyone up. Rainy? Slow people down. Clear skies? Raise the speed limit.

Left to their own devices people drive safely. Yes, you'll get a few odd people that are dumb and whip in and out of traffic but most people are actively looking to not get in an accident and will drive what's comfortable, be it 65MPH or 100MPH. They know when the limit is being approached. You can see this out West on some of the roads like the one between Kingsman, AZ and Las Vegas. I remember driving that around 100MPH and everyone else was driving at roughly the same speed. We weren't zipping in and our of traffic. We could see clearly down the road (it's straight and flat) and everyone was being polite.

Good excuse to post this.....

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Faster than the autobahn in Germany?

what is the highest speed u all have a reached on a normal highway?

i got my record at around 120mph.

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In a special situation, where the Interstate was shut down, I zipped to about 112 in my Liberty. Then the governor kicked in and I thought I broke my whip.

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105. With the top down.

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