News: Utah Considers Joining 80 MPH Speed Limit Club

[laserman56]

I would hate to see Utah pass that. Its because they all ready do that or more on a consistent bases. Utah drivers are poor to say the least (wouldn't last 10 min in Phoenix,Seattle or LA),I take my life in my hands every time I have to venture into UT to hit a major Airport. So I really hope they don't raise it to 80!

[Doofus McFancypants]

Funny thing about the Movie the GA students did..
By going the speed limit in all lanes - by NOT passing in the passing lane or yielding to cars behind them - they created a roadblock - which is illegal and they were Ticketed for creating a rolling roadblock.


If you change the thought around - it gets kinda scarry...."It is illegal to not get out of speeders way".

Steve

[dremd]

I have not read the majority of this thread; but I have an AWESOME Idea (at least in my head)

Cafe standards would vary from state to state (with a national ##), highway MPG would be calculated with steady state speed, level road, 72 deg, etc etc at the highway speed limit.

Would make auto manufactures much more in tune with aero!

[eco_generator]

I live in one of the worse states for speed limit setting and enforcement. In Ohio, the speed limit is way low (sometimes illegal for the road to be defined as an interstate) and there is massive enforcement. You see cops everywhere sitting in the middle of the road, idling, waiting to catch a random speeder.

There are some major problems with keeping the highway limit too low: First, interstates are much better able to handle large amounts of traffic. That can't be denied. Very large radius turns and very long sight-distances with many other measures to handle large volume and to be able to see far in advance what is going on. Second, most people will always try to find the fastest way to get somewhere. Now here comes the big issue. Lowering the limit on the highway (like they did with the 55 mess) pushes a large volume of traffic onto secondary and county roads. It's very easy to do 55-60 on a lot of lonely stretches of county & township roads. Except they don't become so lonely anymore. The death rate soars on these side roads people use to try and beat the highway. Very rarely will you see that listed in statistics. Advocates for lower speeds tend to focus on just the highway death rate even though the overall deaths/mile is increasing. Which makes complete sense, because you want the largest volume on the safer highways.

Here in Ohio, trucks are still limited to 55 mph. Whereas car traffic can go up to 65. We will stay away from why that is so silly to increase car to truck interaction with the speed differential... but this phenomenon was still happening with the trucks! They were jumping off the highway and trying to fly through small towns. These trucks were slamming into minivans and killing people left and right. They finally relented and let trucks do 65 only on the turnpike, state highway patrol (speed increases biggest opponent in Ohio) was coming out with reports of fractional increases in total accidents on the turnpike within weeks. Of course with nothing stated about how many involved trucks.

I can understand why many people on here think everyone should just go slow, unfortunately its not going to happen en masse anytime soon. But in the meantime I think the safety factor should also be considered in setting speed limits, too. I can't imagine justifying people dying for FE reasons. Let the people live and educate them on why they should drive slower. I know I am enjoying the learning.

[elhigh]

My truck won't sustain those speeds without damage. The gearing isn't there; she revs too high and starts to overheat if I go a long time over 75.

I've seen folks get ticketed for going too slowly. If they raise the limit so high that my old but otherwise perfectly serviceable vehicle can't stay within 10mph of the limit, does that mean I get a ticket for unsafe vehicle operation, even though before the change I wasn't a hazard? That's unacceptable, to be trapped by a changed standard - legal one day, but not the next.

[tjts1]

If your vehicle can't keep up with the flow of traffic, it is a hazard to all other road users and you deserve to be ticketed. Stay off the highway and use local roads. You wouldn't want somebody in a golf cart using the freeway either.

[streeter]

Originally Posted by laserman56

I would hate to see Utah pass that. Its because they all ready do that or more on a consistent bases. Utah drivers are poor to say the least (wouldn't last 10 min in Phoenix,Seattle or LA),I take my life in my hands every time I have to venture into UT to hit a major Airport. So I really hope they don't raise it to 80!

Utah has the worse drivers I have ever seen. Why did I move back here

[tjts1]

Overall, speed is down from when limit on I-15 stretches was 75 mph
Since the Utah Department of Transportation increased the posted speed limit from 75 mph to 80 mph on two stretches of I-15 in southern Utah, drivers have actually slowed down.

With an 80 mph posted speed limit, people are driving 81 mph to 85 mph, said Carlos Braceras, UDOT deputy director. With a 75 mph posted speed limit, people were driving 83 mph to 85 mph.

Deseret News | UDOT says drivers going slower in 80 mph zones

[RobertSmalls]

Interesting, tjts.

I actually like the 75mph interstates in Indiana. There's something relaxing about going the speed you want, without passing or being passed much, and without breaking the law.

I've also driven 74mph on urban expressways (55 posted) through Buffalo. It works, but passing people who are going 60 isn't pleasant.

If they were to open an Autobahn in America, I'd have to make sure to use 110mph-worthy fasteners on the Insight's coroplast, and get ready for 40mpg in an Insight.

[99LeCouch]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Interesting, tjts.

I actually like the 75mph interstates in Indiana. There's something relaxing about going the speed you want, without passing or being passed much, and without breaking the law.

I've also driven 74mph on urban expressways (55 posted) through Buffalo. It works, but passing people who are going 60 isn't pleasant.

If they were to open an Autobahn in America, I'd have to make sure to use 110mph-worthy fasteners on the Insight's coroplast, and get ready for 40mpg in an Insight.

I wish NYS would make the speed limit on the rural interstates 70 or 75 during April-October and 65 during the winter months. Many folks do 70 or faster during the summer. Slowing down during the winter makes sense because of all the snow and ice NY experiences.

It's both hilarious and maddening to be doing 65 on I-90 and watch the "conga line" of folks whipping by me suddenly slam on their brakes when they spot a state trooper. They drop to 60, which suddenly makes me the lawbreaker for passing on the right...