New speed limit in Texas 85mph

[lazerelmo]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/texas-moves-raise-speed-limit-85-mph/story?id=13319173

:hat

Gas prices? What gas prices?

I love this state.


Though this bill has passed the House, it's still not law," says department of Transportation spokeswoman Kelli Petras

[Wild Cobra]

Better hope they keep the roads smooth enough to drive that fast....

[Viva Las Espuelas]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/texas-moves-raise-speed-limit-85-mph/story?id=13319173

:hat

Gas prices? What gas prices?

I love this state.

Eh. They'll just have to start thinking about that trade in. Easy solution there.

[benefactor]

No one goes under 85 on I35 anyway.

[DMC]

No one goes under 85 on I35 anyway.

Although this is true, people tend to go over the speed limit by 10mph or so most of the time, and at least 5 because of the myth "they won't ticket you unless you are more than 5 over". So that means people will be driving 90mph. Tire salesmen will love it.

I would like to see toll roads have that however. 70 feels slow as hell on a long ass toll road around the city when no one else is anywhere around you and the road is in great shape.

[CubanMustGo]

Don't getcher hopes up:


Our state's Texas Transportation Commission would still need to approve this measure, only after a future highway was designed and built to handle the higher speeds or weights," Rep. Kolkhorst said in a statement to ABC News. "With gas prices what they are, this would only be an option in the years ahead, and certainly only after a great deal of study. There's no highway in Texas today allowing for 85 mph, but we didn't to close the door on tomorrow."

[phyzik]

shit.... I do 85 thru school zones... this aint nothin. The way I see it, someone needs to enforce the Darwin effect on all of your stupid snot nosed kids, why not me?












































I kid. :lol

[DMX7]

Fuck Yeah! Honestly, I don't think there should even be speed limits on the highways.

[phyzik]

Fuck Yeah! Honestly, I don't think there should even be speed limits on the highways.

No, speed limits should be applied because all across America, there are stupid drivers that constantly occupy the passing lanes and fail to switch to the right lane when a faster moving vehicle comes up behind them even though its supposed to be considered a common curtesy.

If anything, there needs to be a designated lane, similar to car pool lanes, where you have to get a special designation on your license to access that lane and your vehicle is subject to more extreme inspection rules and common curtesy passing is enforced as a law if an approaching vehicle is traveling at a higher rate of speed from behind you.

It will never happen though, we never will spend as much on road maintanence as Germany does.

[Wild Cobra]

I agree that there shouldn't be limits for the purpose of keeping people driving slow, but if you want German style speeds, then we would have to insist of German right of way laws also.

Speed limit laws in Germany were changed when I was there. They didn't incorporate a top speed, but rather made it that if you were in an accident and exceeded a certain speed, you were held at least partially liable since the speed contributed to a greater degree o0f damage.

Not all autobahns in Germany were unrestricted. You would often see 100 KPH, 120 KPH, and 140 KPH limits. Only the open well care for sections of roads were unrestricted.

Problem we have in the USA is we don't have a single freeway I know of that I would trust driving more than about 130 MPH. The faster you go, the more important the road quality is. The faster you want to go, the smoother the road must be to drive safely.

I do see problems if we made our roads limitless. You would have people with P rated tires driving 130 MPH or more and having blow-outs. People pole positioning is dangerous enough at 70 MPH. Going faster.... OMG....

Our culture is not ready for unrestricted speeds. They have very few problems in Germany, but then, they grew up far more responsible as drivers.

[CubanMustGo]

Having driven some in Germany last fall I have to agree with WC. Our drivers do not possess the skill set required for unlimited speeds and most of our interstates aren't up to snuff or have too much traffic to allow it.

We drove about mid-pack speeds (90ish) and it was just lovely to see how aware drivers were. Nobody camps out in the left lane (except for the BMWs etc. going 120-130).

The tests required to get a permit in Germany are MUCH more difficult than the joke we have here. I'm surprised they honor our DLs to be honest.

[DMX7]

Even with an unrestricted speed limit, I don't know if I'd ever be crusing around at 130 mph (even in Germany) because that would just be for fun and a complete waste of fuel for everyday driving. However, I would like the freedom to drive however fast I want whenever. That would mean only picking the roads and times that feel suitable for that kind of driving (and there are some that I use almost everyday that can take it). In that respect, you'd have to stay smart or become a victim of darwinism.

On a somewhat related note, Texas is also banning texting while driving.