The Texas department of Transportation is considering raising the speed limit to 85 miles per hour on certain stretches of Texas highway.
According to a Reuters article by Jim Forsyth, published on Thursday, the speed limit increase would be part of a bill that has already passed in the House, and there’s currently a similar bill in the Senate.
If the speed limit were raised to 85, Texas would then be home to the highest speed limit in the world.
According to Forsyth’s article, “eighty-five miles per hour would be the highest posted speed limit in the United States and the second-highest posted speed limit in the world,” Forsyth said.
As for the highest speed limit, “a speed of 140 kilometers per hour, or about 86 mph, is posted on some motorways in Poland,” Forsythe said.
In the US, Texas and Utah are the only two states that allow drivers to travel legally at speeds of 80 miles per hour.
Most of these high-speed zones are not a part of many people’s daily commute.
Unless you live near Dallas or another city in West Texas along Interstate 20, driving 80 could result in a pretty burdensome citation.
Your only other shot at driving 80 miles an hour legally right now is if you’re headed to a farm or ranch located somewhere along the stretch of interstate 10 that runs between Kerr county and El Paso county.
Some Texans are against increasing the speed limit to the levels.
But is 80 miles an hour really unsafe if the flow of traffic is moving smoothly?
The quality and width of some highways tends to make 80 miles an hour quite easy.
A numerous amount of Houston drivers have made my speed of 75 miles per hour look sloth-like on Interstate 45 during my commute to campus.
Making our highways faster isn’t an easy decision, though.
According to Forsyth’s article, “under the legislation, the Texas Department of Transportation would have to conduct engineering studies before any highway could be certified for an 85 mph speed limit,” Forsyth said.
Increased speed limits and poorly focused motorists could be a recipe for disaster.
Many drivers, and not just teens, are driving distracted.
Cell phones, whether it’s calling or texting, eating, tuning a radio or messing around with any of the other countless possible distractions can lead to dangerous conditions at almost any speed.
Traveling at high speeds is something that many drivers feel they can do well, but in reality the faster you travel the less time you have to react.
For this reason alone, numerous studies should be conducted to make sure that any stretch of road that increases in speed limit is suitable for normal drivers.
