TX Approves 85 mph Speed Limit, Highest In US

[desertpunk]

Yeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/09/...try-at-85-mph/

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.”

[...]


The road in question:

[FLAWDA-FELLA]

Isn't driving 80-85 mph the average speed that most drivers do anyway??

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by FLAWDA-FELLA

Isn't driving 80-85 mph the average speed that most drivers do anyway??

It is here in NM!

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by FLAWDA-FELLA

Isn't driving 80-85 mph the average speed that most drivers do anyway??

It is, now it's just legal and means you will see folks going 95-100 mph..

But, I REALLY hope they plan on enforcing the right lane when passing only, so you don't have some self-righteous fool blocking the left lane going 75 causing a dangerous situation.

[FLAWDA-FELLA]

Vrroooom!!


http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs...cid=autos_3656

[desertpunk]

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by Talbot

It is, now it's just legal and means you will see folks going 95-100 mph..

But, I REALLY hope they plan on enforcing the right lane when passing only, so you don't have some self-righteous fool blocking the left lane going 75 causing a dangerous situation.

People already go that fast in 75 mph zones, and even 65 mph zones in the major cities: I've driven the 80 mph stretches in west Texas, and few people were breaking 85, not really any more that did so on the then-70 mph stretches in east Texas. Enforcing "keep right" laws would lead to a greater increase in safety than enforcing speed limits.

[jonathaninATX]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y_0von_5SRk#

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by jonathaninATX

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y_0von_5SRk#

That speed should be reserved for the Big Empty!

[desertpunk]

Two Hogs, One Deer Hit by Cars on Opening Night of Texas’s Fastest Tollway

The opening of the Texas 130 toll road extension went off without a hitch Wednesday, with no major collisions to speak of. Then night fell, and the wildlife came out.

Vehicles and animals collided at least three times somewhere along the 41-mile road that connects south Austin to Seguin and boasts an 85 mph speed limit, the fastest in the country. Two hogs were hit, and one vehicle struck a deer. No drivers were injured. The animals may not have been so lucky, though their fates are unknown.

'A known pig route'

On Thursday afternoon, the first vehicle rollover occurred, not far from Interstate 10. The driver suffered minor injuries, said Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke, whose deputies assisted Department of Public Safety troopers. DPS Trooper Jason Reyes said he does not believe speed was a factor.

But the fact that hogs played a part in at least two wrecks was no surprise to many who live in the Caldwell County area, where at least two of the collisions occurred. This is hog country. "That is a known pig route," said Caldwell County Precinct 1 Constable Victor "Smitty" Terrell, who heard one of the hog-versus-vehicle crashes on his police radio Wednesday night.

Like Texas 130 has the highest speed limit, Texas claims the largest feral hog population in the U.S. - 2.6 million - and is so problematic that the state runs a contest called the "Hog Out Challenge," in which counties compete to take the most swine by killing, trapping, snaring or capturing them "for purposes of immediate slaughter."

Whether road kill counts is unclear.

[...]