Texas may increase speed limit to 85mph
 

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/texa...-safe-13326833

With cell phones, general distractions, and no real driver training before or after licensing I would be nervous traveling on any Florida road with a speed limit at 85mph.

Is your state ready for 85mph or lifting speed restrictions?

Florida's a different animal. Far fewer blue-hairs doing 50 in the left lane in Texas.

Not that the speed limit being 85 means a whole lot for safety. Studies have shown that higher speed limits are actually safer since you're taking away some of the speed differential between drivers, which is the real issue.

Texas's speed limit has been 90 for awhile now.

The 90 mph speed limits were just far far away from any concentrations of people.

:facepalm:

I just drove down from Gainesville to Miami last night.

Everything is good and calm until you cross PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach County, and it gets progressively worse until you merge onto US1. Last night I was passed by countless late-model FWD race cars (base trim Pontiac G6 sedan, Impala) but it seemed I was passed by even more old shitbox cars and there was a comfortable buffer between my speed and the 65 mph speed limit. No one goes 65, you have to exceed 80 mph to not get rear-ended. People here are nuts and their cars aren't exactly safe.

A 85 mph speed limit in Dade county will spell almost certain death for many bros.

I like driving in West Texas. Speed limit is generally 70 on all the winding two-laners through the country. That doesn't mean everyone drives the speed limit (some below, some above). You have lots of work trucks, lots of trucks hauling livestock, lots of oil-field service big rigs, and then me -- alternating between a G8 GT and a Turbo Miata. Passing power is key around here. There is a strange form of courtesy that is commonplace here -- when someone driving more slowly notices another with a faster pace, they pull over to make room. It is then courteous for the passing driver to make the pass as expeditiously as possible. As you pass, you give a wave and a nod. I've had people from other states ride with me, and they're dumbfounded when they see this. Perhaps it has to do with the German heritage of some of the locals here. Dunno.

Anyway, great place for a turbo Miata. Oh yeah, I see a state trooper once every other month. They're usually passing me.

I suppose this is meant to imply I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about, despite being from Florida and having lived in (and driven through) Texas.

:facepalm:

In Texas, people actually get out of your way if you're coming up behind them in the left lane. That's my experience anyway.

Nah, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a total dick -- the facepalm is because this thread is right on time. If you're offended, I'll pm you a heart

Gotcha. Not offended, but you can PM me a heart anytime.

The speed limit in New Mexico is 75 between cities and 65 on freeways in town. It's not bad. It seems pretty optimal. Most work trucks can juuuust do 70-75. I sorta feel that if it were 85 the work trucks would still be doing 70-75.

Most people around here drive that fast anyway on the expressway and the speed limit is 55mph around the city an 65mph in the outlying areas. Except for the idiots who like to do 45mph in the left lanes, of course.

I'm usually about 5 over and it's like I'm sitting still. The truck traffic sticks pretty much to the speed limit though.

The propaganda "speed kills" ... is just that, propaganda.

Here's a speed FAQ:
http://www.motorists.org/speed-limits/faq

The vast majority of drivers will not drive at a speed higher than they are comfortable with. The majority will drive at a speed that is a reasonable compromise between expediency and safety. If you raise speed limits above what an individual driver is comfortable at, he will drive under the speed limit. If you lower speed limits below what many drivers will drive at, *some* drivers will drive slower and some will not obey the speed limit.

For maximum safety, the speed limits should be set as per speed surveys - IOW drivers vote with their right foots.

If you raise speed limits as per traffic engineering standards, there will probably be smaller speed differentials between cars, and safety will improve.
If you raise them even further a la Autobahns, you *can* have large speed differentials *and* have low crash rates. It just takes proper lane discipline and driver training. They have unrestricted 2-lane autobahns, and Porsches share the road with long haul trucks just fine.

I applaud Texas' move. Sensibility is threatening to overcome politics.
If the Feds try to squeeze them on this, I hope they invoke the 10th Amendment.

Hopefully the speed limit will be 200 mph in Austin soon.

What's a speed limit? ;)

This is win.

I drive 100mph regularly.

85+ speed limit is needed. Fuck, there should be no speed limit. There should instead be tickets for shit like tailgating and driving too fucking slowly.

In Bodymore, the po-po have to worry about bros like Marlow and Kenard; traffic ain't no prob'.

Who here remembers when driving 85 MPH was fast as shit? I can recall punching my old Chevy and getting her up to 100. What a rush! Now I hop in the Miata and surprised when I look down after passing someone that I am going 100.

We just got back this morning from WV (560 mile trip). I've driven the same route many times (visiting family up there) and can remember when it was always a 10 hour trip. Now it is 8.5 hours.