The bad news is that this highway was designed and has been partially completed with 65mph speed limit criteria……sight distances, curve radii, etc. If they elect to go forward with this speed limit increase, the two choices are to do a complete redesign (probably negating any revenue increase from higher toll volumes) or simply ignoring the design safety criteria. By the way, this is not a situation like I-10 in west Texas, where you have fifty miles or more between exits and no interchanges at all. SH130 will involve many major interchanges and lots of traffic getting on and off. I just hope they put up video cameras to record the carnage…..gotta wonder how many NAFTA trucks from Mexico are safe at 80-90mph.

Not only is it the LAW that slower traffic keep right, it is a matter of common coutesy to move aside. Everyone DOES NOT have the right to drive wherever they want on the road at whatever speed they want. I just wish it was legal for me to have fender mounted rocket launcher and blast them out of the way.

A state with a maximum limit of:

55– $0.05/gallon
60– $0.10/gallon
65– $0.15/gallon
70– $0.20/gallon
75– $0.40/gallon
80– $0.65/gallon
85+– $0.95/gallon

That way all the gas hogging states pay a premium for their priviledge to drive higher speeds……

(1) It’s nice to see that someone in government is actually listening to traffic engineers and seeking an 85th percentile speed limit instead of seeking to keep speed limits artificially low for revenue generation purposes disguised as “safety measures.”

(2) I don’t buy the argument that most people will suddenly increase to 90 if the speed limit is raised to 80. I think most people have a “comfort zone” with respect to speed where they begin to personally feel unsafe and uneasy when they exceed it. I think that’s probably around 75-80 for most people, though some will surely hit 85+. I don’t think most people will automatically reset their speeds to 90 as some claim. I for one feel pretty comfortable at 75-80, but start to feel uneasy over 80. Make the speed limit 80, and I doubt I’d exceed it by more than a couple MPH once in a while.

(3) While speed can kill, *differential* in speeds and the resulting unsafe lane changes are the real dangers. I’ll bet a hypothetical road where everyone does 80-85 would be safer than one where half are doing 55 and the other half are doing 75.

(4) Because of #3, I worry that some people who want to drive slower (even if in the right lane) will be what makes 80 less safe, not as much the speed itself. I respect the right of drivers who, whether for reasons of safety, personal comfort or fuel economy, want to drive (say) 55 to 65 (in the right lane, of course). But if most are doing 80, this results in a speed differential that leads to reduced safety. Because of this, I’m not sure it’s a good idea as long as there are no separate “autobahn” lanes for those who want to drive faster.

(5) I’m also not sure this is a good idea with $3 gas and $70 barrels of oil. The faster you drive, the more you’re feeding the economies of nations which hate us.

“See, Jim suffers from the same thing alot of people suffer from. IGNORANCE. :”

You and Jim seem to have a lot in common. Because people on the Autobahn DO travel in excess of 125MPH. Yes your right, not everyone does. But if your in the left lane you better not be going much slower than that. There are also a few other places in Europe that have unlmimited roads, Northern Territory in Austria and the Isle of Man in the UK to name a few.

And I do realize that drivers on the highways are eating big macs and cheese doodles. This is part of the problem to begin with. If people would pay attention in the first place we would have less accidents and we could all get where we were going a lot faster. Which brings me back to my original point that we need a better driver education system like they have in europe.

Also, I’d like to point out the fact that race car drivers although not on the phone are on two way radios’ for the majority of a race.

I’m not from this state, but I do live here and I completely agree that the limit needs to be raised. They aren’t talking about a downtown area with school zones and such. This is open country where you could watch your dog run away for a couple of days with a pair of simple binoculars. And traffic usually isn’t that heavy either till you hit Houston, San Antonio areas where speed limits are at around 65MPH. Which is fine.

And when Piablo said that racecar drivers don’t make up the general population, he was referring to that not everyone drives a racecar for a living. Of course future racers come from the normal people of the world, but they certainly don’t make up the general populace. Otherwise there would be a lot more racecar drivers in the sport(s). There are however people that think they are racecar drivers.

I’m gonna stop now before I start ranting.

“Nice comments Jim. Who are you, John Kerry and Al Gore’s illegitemite brat?

See, Jim suffers from the same thing alot of people suffer from. IGNORANCE. What he doesn’t realize, is that there is NO oil shortage. It’s greenie weenies…”

…blah blah blah. Sure Piablo. And there is no o-zone depletion. And there’s no greenhouse effect. And the climate isn’t changing dramatically. And the rain isn’t eating away the paint. And the run-off isn’t destroying our top-soil. Yee-haw, cowboy.

Driver education and the driver licensing system should be reevaluated. When I took my tests at sixteen, I was more concerned with failing the double parking portion of the test than I was with the parts involving oncoming vehicles, intersections and signaling.

There was an entire section dedicated to the operation of a manual transmission and emergency gear braking, etc. that was completely skipped over! When I finally bought a manual transmission car four years later, I had to be taught the basics of gear operation and concepts like engine braking from scratch. To a sixteen year old, it seemed to be very easy to get a driver’s license.

Also, in any driver’s correction course I have been to, why is it that instead of focusing on something related to the problem caused by the driver in question or a group discussion, we are instead forced to watch an outdated, low budget general safety video (nearly identical to the ones we were forced to watch in Driver’s Ed), and take a simplified rehash of a multiple choice driver’s test? Does this really help red light runners? Does this help to curb excessive speeding? Does this really convince people to use their turn signals from now on?

Right now the system is the way it is for the convenience of local police revenue and for the convenience of insurance companies. I’d like to see a change in both the way speed limits are set and in the way we are given our driving privileges.

Piablo mentioned “80 is about the limit where the human eyes and brain are capable of processing the drive” This makes entirely no sense what so ever. Why is it that people in europe manage so well and that race car drivers are able to drive beyond 80mph?? Where exactly did you get this information from? I’d be interested to see the research.

See, Jim suffers from the same thing alot of people suffer from. IGNORANCE. What he doesn’t realize, is that there is NO oil shortage. It’s greenie weenies that are preventing oil refineries and nuclear stations from being built. Less power, means more $$$. You want to solve this manufactured oil crisis, then call your Senators. Did you know the US Government makes more off a gallon of gas than the oil companies do? That’s right. So when Exxon made record profits, well our government collected record taxes. Less taxes, more refineries, means less $$$.

With that said, people do conform to a 85th perctile statistic. People want to drive at a limit where they are comfortable. Regardless of how capable a car is today, I don’t see people driving beyond 80. 80 is about the limit where the human eyes and brain are capable of processing the drive. Any faster and it “feels” dangerous. School speed limits will never be raised because it’s not about road safety, it’s about the safety of pedestrians.

Just the kind of leadership we’ve come to expect from TX.

j i m