Is The American Autobahn Next? How States Are Pushing Highway Speeds Past The Limit

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Is The American Autobahn Next? How States Are Pushing Highway Speeds Past The Limit


Feb. 22, 2019

By Chris Woodyard

Read More: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...an/2946374002/

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State Sen. John Moorlach's vision for a Golden State version of Germany's famed Autobahn a stretch of pavement where you can drive as fast you want is just the latest in a series of moves by states to put the pedal to the metal when it comes to speed limits. It's happening even as safety experts try to throw on the brakes on speeds that have now reached legal levels they view as somewhere between risky and downright dangerous.

- Seven states, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming have allowed 80 mph speed limits on select highways. One, Texas, has 85 mph on a section of State Highway 130. Legislatures have upped limits as cars have become safer and more powerful and the price of gas has tumbled, lowering concerns about the poor fuel mileage that high-speed driving can bring. Yet, the resulting higher speeds haven't made much of a statistical dent in highway deaths, the Governors Highway Safety Association reports. — In California, Moorlach doesn't think safety will be a showstopper when it comes to his no-speed-limit plan. He said crash concerns haven't dampened enthusiasm for the German Autobahn, a haven for speedsters for decades. In announcing his plan, he pointed to a World Health Organization report that estimates road traffic deaths at 4.1 per 100,000 people in Germany compared to 12.4 in the U.S. His bill would add four lanes to two highways, Interstate 5 and California State Route 99, for drivers who want the convenience of going without a speed limit.

- A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the lives of 33,000 motorists and their passengers would have been saved if there had been no speed limit increases between 1993, when states posted highways at either 55 mph or 65 mph, and 2013. Another IIHS study that looked only at the effect of raising the speed limit to 80 mph in Utah estimated that an increase in traffic speed of only 3 mph, to 78 mph, increased the chance of fatalities by 17 percent. The other problem is that even with higher limits, people tend to drive faster than they should. — Having gone on trips to Utah and Nevada, where other motorists sometimes whiz by at 90 mph, Chuck Farmer, vice president of research for IIHS, said, "Personally, I find it very uncomfortable." "When higher speed signs go up, not only is traffic moving faster but some motorists immediately start exceeding the new posted limit," said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. The effect is a "double whammy" on the average speed of traffic.

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