Texas to open fastest U.S. highway with 85 mph limit
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas will soon open a stretch of highway with the highest speed limit in the country, giving eager drivers a chance to rip through a trip between two of the state's largest metropolitan areas.
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved a speed limit of 85 mph for a 41-mile toll road several miles east of the increasingly crowded Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio.
"I would love it," Austin resident Alan Guckian said. "Sometimes it's fun to just open it up."
But while some drivers will want to test their horsepower and radar detectors, others are asking if safety is taking a backseat.
"The research is clear that when speed limits go up, fatalities go up," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He said higher speed limits get people to their destinations faster, "but the trade-off is more crashes and more highway deaths."
A 2009 report in the American Journal of Public Health studied traffic fatalities in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 and found that more than 12,500 deaths were attributable to increases in speed limits on all kinds of roads.
The study also said that rural highways showed a 9.1 percent increase in fatalities on roads where speed limits were raised, but did not cite specific numbers in those instances.
Most highways in the U.S. top out at 75 mph, and there are no longer any roads in the U.S. with no speed limit. Some highways in rural West Texas and Utah have 80 mph speed limits.
The Texas Legislature last year approved 85 mph limits for some new stretches of road. The strip of toll road running from Austin to Seguin, about 35 miles northeast of San Antonio, will be the first to allow that speed when it opens in November.
The Texas Transportation Commission, which is appointed by Gov. Rick Perry, approved the 85 mph speed limit at a public meeting on Aug. 30. Commissioners would not comment on their decision.
The state contract with the toll operator allows the state to collect a $67 million up-front cash payment or a percentage of the toll profits in the future if the speed limit is 80 mph or lower. At 85 mph, the cash payment balloons to $100 million or a higher percentage of toll revenues.
Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Veronica Beyer says "we must continue to look for innovative ways to generate revenue and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars."
Agency officials had previously said they would study the toll road's topography, the speeds that most drivers were reaching, and the safety of access points and cross sections before approving the 85 mph speed limit.
"Safety is our top priority and tests have shown the designated speed is a safe one," Beyer said.
During his daily commute from Round Rock, north of Austin, to his job in San Antonio, Steve Marcy sometimes uses another part of the toll road. The section he drives now has an 80 mph speed limit. Marcy said he'd be comfortable driving 85, but would be concerned about others driving vehicles that are not in good condition.
"A tire blowout (at 85 mph) could be a big hazard," Marcy said.
Chris Lippincott, spokesman for SH 130 Concession Co. that is building the road, said the company is committed to operating a safe highway.
"On any road, drivers hold the key to safety based on traffic, travel conditions and the capabilities of their own vehicles," Lippincott said.
Toll prices have not yet been set for the new section. Marcy predicted the higher speed limit would attract new drivers, but said most may not think it's worth paying the tolls.
"For most people I talk to, it's a cost issue," Marcy said.
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved a speed limit of 85 mph for a 41-mile toll road several miles east of the increasingly crowded Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio.
"I would love it," Austin resident Alan Guckian said. "Sometimes it's fun to just open it up."
But while some drivers will want to test their horsepower and radar detectors, others are asking if safety is taking a backseat.
"The research is clear that when speed limits go up, fatalities go up," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He said higher speed limits get people to their destinations faster, "but the trade-off is more crashes and more highway deaths."
A 2009 report in the American Journal of Public Health studied traffic fatalities in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 and found that more than 12,500 deaths were attributable to increases in speed limits on all kinds of roads.
The study also said that rural highways showed a 9.1 percent increase in fatalities on roads where speed limits were raised, but did not cite specific numbers in those instances.
Most highways in the U.S. top out at 75 mph, and there are no longer any roads in the U.S. with no speed limit. Some highways in rural West Texas and Utah have 80 mph speed limits.
The Texas Legislature last year approved 85 mph limits for some new stretches of road. The strip of toll road running from Austin to Seguin, about 35 miles northeast of San Antonio, will be the first to allow that speed when it opens in November.
The Texas Transportation Commission, which is appointed by Gov. Rick Perry, approved the 85 mph speed limit at a public meeting on Aug. 30. Commissioners would not comment on their decision.
The state contract with the toll operator allows the state to collect a $67 million up-front cash payment or a percentage of the toll profits in the future if the speed limit is 80 mph or lower. At 85 mph, the cash payment balloons to $100 million or a higher percentage of toll revenues.
Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Veronica Beyer says "we must continue to look for innovative ways to generate revenue and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars."
Agency officials had previously said they would study the toll road's topography, the speeds that most drivers were reaching, and the safety of access points and cross sections before approving the 85 mph speed limit.
"Safety is our top priority and tests have shown the designated speed is a safe one," Beyer said.
During his daily commute from Round Rock, north of Austin, to his job in San Antonio, Steve Marcy sometimes uses another part of the toll road. The section he drives now has an 80 mph speed limit. Marcy said he'd be comfortable driving 85, but would be concerned about others driving vehicles that are not in good condition.
"A tire blowout (at 85 mph) could be a big hazard," Marcy said.
Chris Lippincott, spokesman for SH 130 Concession Co. that is building the road, said the company is committed to operating a safe highway.
"On any road, drivers hold the key to safety based on traffic, travel conditions and the capabilities of their own vehicles," Lippincott said.
Toll prices have not yet been set for the new section. Marcy predicted the higher speed limit would attract new drivers, but said most may not think it's worth paying the tolls.
"For most people I talk to, it's a cost issue," Marcy said.
So people really want to get out of texas......
Good, now get some of these people to go conquer Oregon and do the same on I-84...
 @Vexorg I love the wide straightaways going out towards Pendleton. I had a sweet mistake '98 Olds Regency that I took to Pendleton on my first serious test drive after purchase who's sweet mistake was that the cruise control would still lock in above 120.
I think you almost end up in jail here now if you drive that fast.
Montana has a 'suggested' limit of 70 for semitrucks and 80 for smaller vehicles, which their people call whatever they deem safe. A speeder typically won't be pulled over there without some obvious safety threat of another type.
 @FreeCoffeeNow! I think they had to get rid of their "Safe and Proper" speed limits because the Feds complained, but in my experience you can pretty much blast clear through Montana on I-90 doing 85 miles per hour and nobody will even notice. For that matter, they stick 70 mile per hour speed limits on dinky little 2-lane highways in the middle of nowhere that would probably have 55 MPH speed limits anywhere else.
 @Vexorg Years ago I had a trooper with a brand new car at a gas station ask me if I'd run him beside my '70 Charger so he could get an idea of breakaway speed in a chase situation against my known musclecar. So I ran away from him without ever telling about my 698 horsepower under the hood, Columbia 2 speed rear end, or my handmade ground effects tunnels. Something tells me today that he probably never mentioned breakaway speed again since.
 @FreeCoffeeNow! Is that in state law or how it is believed to be?
Texas should secede and go back to being its own country. They never wanted any part of the U.S. anyway.Â
I would be willing to pay a toll for high speed roads/lanes as long as there is a minimum speed that is strictly enforced.
I'm going to sell scrappers to the Texas High Way Patrol.
The faster you can get thru the desolation of Texas the better. Wasteland.
They already drive 85+ in the 75 zones. As a San Antonionan I actually think this is a good thing. If people are already going that fast to begin with let them. It's has less to do witl fuel consumtion than it has to do with getting from point A-B. US 10 has been at 80 for a long time and it hasn't increased traffic accidents one bit.Â
Good luck on your gas mileage ($). Going that fast will suck away your gas tank. Pretty dumb.
 @jelisized Yea..you just go down there and drive at 53 MPH in the fast lane down there like you probably do here in your Prius and see what they do to you.
 @I Like Meat I drive a truck, and I'm in the right lane doing the speed limit saving my gas. I think Rite Aid has a sale on Massengill. You may want to check out the prices.
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http://westseattle.komonews.com/news/779027-study-seattle-drivers-among-worst-country
When I first got stationed in Great Falls, Montana there were no day time speed limits. I once made the 750 mile trip back to Washington to visit my family in a little under 9 hours. Of course I was younger and much stupider then. You won't catch me doing 5 over the speed limit now.
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With saying that, even if the speed limit is 85 it doesn't mean you have to go 85 mph. Safety should ALWAYS take precedence and if it is unsafe to go that speed, then don't do it!
 @Tattooed_Angel It's not the speed that causes the crashes, it's the speed differential. Someone doing the speed limit coming up on someone doing 10-20MPH under the speed limit will cause the people doing the speed limit to take evasive measures to get around the person that should be using surface streets. Sooner or later that will cause a crash.
 @Quadshot  @Tattooed_Angel that already happens here. People blowing through 405 at 90 and swerving around people going 65 during rush hour.
 @Tattooed_Angel Speed isn't the problem, un attentive drivers are. This has been a huge controversy down here. This particual section of road way is flat, straight, and the drivers already do 85 anyways.Â
Hey now Billy Bob and Bubba can pretend they is NASCAR Driver YeHaw!
I didn't see anything about not allowing truckers on the highway.
@mstipton you want 80,000 lbs screaming down on you at 85 MPH!
 @wynooheeman  @mstipton From my experience driving in Texas is if you are not doing at least 80 MPH you are likely to be a mobile speed bump. Everyone is passing you, including the highway patrol!
@wynooheeman They scream past you faster than that, and weighing in over a 102k, this really is a non issue. I live here and we already drive that fast anyways. its better than doing 3mph on I-5 at rush hour.Â
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Brilliant! Texas is the Homer Simpson of states. Now many people, being the scofflaws that they are, will be driving close to 100 mph. How on earth is that safer? And then there's the whole issue of gas consumption, which goes up quite a bit at those speeds. I guess people don't care about safety or about saving money...at least not in Texas.
@stratoonist I got something in my bag for you but due to censorship you cant see my middle finger. Texans aren't all like King of the Hill, and towns here arent like just driving from Ballard to down town. There is some distance inbetween our cities.Â
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Some older cars weren't geared to go that fast.  An '80 civic automatic I owned comes to mind. Built during the mandatory 55 era, doing even 70 is totally punishing it.  In any kind of wind, my motorhome only wants to go 60.Â
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I don't mind the higher speed limits, but I hate it when these semi trucks race up behind you, pulling over to pass at the last minute. Feel like they're going to run me over.Â
And that right there is what the right lane is for.   The Autobahn is not any different, trucks and slower rights stay to the right.  Those passing on the left.   The only issue facing the Texans (outside of drivers from Washington & Oregon) is them learning proper road etiquette.Â
 @Vertically Inclined We have laws here that say the left lane is for passing only. It is one of the most ignored laws on the books by our WSP. RCW 46.61.00 $124 fine.
 @K00lGuy  @Quadshot  @Vertically Inclined I would encourage them to write more! It doesn't seem to be working yet.
 @Quadshot  @Vertically Inclined Oh it is not ignored. They right lots of tickets for left lane violations.
Yes some deaths would not have happened if they weren't going fast.  But I have seen cars flip tumble break apart at speed between 40-60 just depends on what happens when the rubber or sheet metal hits the road.  But I tell you one thing, I feel safer from people speeding on our freeways than the people who are going way to slow, changing lanes without looking, and cutting cars and semis off. They are the bigger danger to us than the people that can drive and know the rules of the road and physics.  I hope the minimum speed limit is set no more than 10 under the max and that it is strictly enforced.
It will be the Seattle drivers going 50 mph!
 @oledawg and probably run off the road or shot.
 @oledawg ....and in the left lane too
 @Sydthepiper  @oledawg I've always said, "the right lane is the new left lane" while driving down 99 or I-5 on my commute to Seattle.  Â
 @Vertically Inclined ....as long as you're doin'  5 to 15+ above when room allows, you're alright...if not, then stay right, please.