Texas Highway Speed Limits To Increase Today (+5mph, night limits gone)

Spectre

Spectre

The Deported
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Dallas, Texas
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We do have a statutory 85mph top limit and some stretches of very rural highway where the limit is set to 80; however, most non-urban highways have a 70mph upper limit. We also had a lower nighttime speed limit due to lack of illumination as well as lack of performance of the general automotive population's lighting systems in the past. Trucks also were held to a lower speed limit due to older equipment's limitations in the past. However - as of September 1, all of that will begin going away (except for the 80/85 bit).

TxDOT Increases Speed Limit on Some Highways

New laws regulating speed limits on state highways in Texas are beginning to take effect. Some speed limits will increase.

Gov. Perry signed House Bill 1353, which takes effect today. This legislation allows the Texas Department of Transportation to create a 75-mph speed limit on any state highway found to be reasonable and safe through a speed study.

TxDOT will be reviewing existing 70-mph limits to determine where a 75-mph speed limit may be safely posted.

HB 1353 also eliminates the 65-mph nighttime speed limit and all truck speed limits. On Sept. 1, the existing nighttime and truck speed limits are repealed and no longer enforceable.

TxDOT awarded maintenance contracts in August to remove the nighttime and truck speed limit signs and is also in the process of hiring consultants to perform the required speed studies needed to implement the higher speed limits.

The state will be removing the existing nighttime speed limit signs, truck speed limit signs, and evaluating approximately 50,000 miles of state highway with a current 70-mph speed limit.

However, any increases in speed limits are not officially in effect until the physical signs are installed.

Speed limits in Texas are set by the 85th percentile method, which represents the speed the majority of drivers are traveling at or below. This is a sound engineering principle used to set speed limits on highways nationwide for the past 60 years, say state officials.

The existing 65-mph night and truck speed limit signs should be removed by the end of this year. The complete evaluation of the state highway system and posting of all new 75-mph speed limits should be complete by early 2013.
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I am very happy about this. It will soon take less time to get to El Paso or Odessa at max legal speeds and fines for cruising in the 90s will be much reduced. On top of that, the damn semis won't have to be plugging along trying to pass each other with a maximum speed limit of less than the rest of the vehicle population. One more step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, in California, they're looking at lowering speed limits.
 
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What are the chances of road speeds being increased?

In VA, the max allowable speed is 70, but I can only think of one highway that allows it (I-95) and that is only in certain parts. In fact, the one road I can think of in VA that actually has conditions safe for consistent high speeds (surface smoothness, gentle turns and height changes) is capped at 65, even though its a (very expensive) toll road.

Good on them for raising the truck speeds though. I hate getting caught behind a truck trying to pass another.
 
YES!! It's about freaking time. Most modern cars run smooth and safe at 80-90 mph. I was cruising at 85 mph today in the RX-8 and didn't even pay attention to it. My Focus runs very well at those speeds as well.
 
SpitfireMK461 said:
What are the chances of road speeds being increased?

In VA, the max allowable speed is 70, but I can only think of one highway that allows it (I-95) and that is only in certain parts. In fact, the one road I can think of in VA that actually has conditions safe for consistent high speeds (surface smoothness, gentle turns and height changes) is capped at 65, even though its a (very expensive) toll road.

Good on them for raising the truck speeds though. I hate getting caught behind a truck trying to pass another.
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If you are talking about surface streets, not likely. Especially since we already have many 50mph surface streets anyway. Never heard anyone complaining that that was too slow, unlike the freeways.

JCE said:
YES!! It's about freaking time. Most modern cars run smooth and safe at 80-90 mph. I was cruising at 85 mph today in the RX-8 and didn't even pay attention to it. My Focus runs very well at those speeds as well.
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The big thing with the night limits was that mainstream cars' lighting systems haven't been all that great until the last decade or so and it was simply too easy to outdrive your headlights at night. That's no longer the case, as the majority of the automotive population has adequate lighting to support 90mph-and-under speeds now.

Next session, they're going to try to get the 80mph zones extended to more counties. Should be an interesting fight; an acquaintance of mine was instrumental in getting this bill through, he's already said that's his agenda for next time. We have to get the lane-sharing bill through next time, too - going to have to write up some position papers and get the state House committee members educated in advance this time by so the safety Nazis don't bottle it up again. Also gotta primary one nitwit, come to think of it.
 
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Spectre said:
The big thing with the night limits was that mainstream cars' lighting systems haven't been all that great until the last decade or so and it was simply too easy to outdrive your headlights at night. That's no longer the case, as the majority of the automotive population has adequate lighting to support 90mph-and-under speeds now.

Next session, they're going to try to get the 80mph zones extended to more counties. Should be an interesting fight.
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Indeed, my Camaro's lights cannot even illuminate safely at 45 mph. :lol: and my non-HID SVT Focus' lighting is rather weak as well. The fog lights do a better job! Not really but they do help.
 
JCE said:
Indeed, my Camaro's lights cannot even illuminate safely at 45 mph. :lol: and my non-HID SVT Focus' lighting is rather weak as well. The fog lights do a better job! Not really but they do help.
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Okay, the Camaro's lighting wasn't very good, but it wasn't *that* bad when it was new. You should replace the sealed beams with newer ones (they dim over time) or with retrofit H4 units. Autopal of India makes some nice and inexpensive retrofits and their US distributor is a guy shipping out of his garage in North Plano.
 
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Spectre said:
Okay, the Camaro's lighting wasn't very good, but it wasn't *that* bad when it was new. You should replace the sealed beams with newer ones (they dim over time) or with retrofit H4 units. Autopal of India makes some nice and inexpensive retrofits and their US distributor is a guy shipping out of his garage in North Plano.
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Trust me, I plan on getting a complete set of the H4 headlight housings. I've seen a 3rd gen with them and they literally shine 4x brighter than sealed beams. :D

Got any info for that guy in Plano?
 
JCE said:
Trust me, I plan on getting a complete set of the H4 headlight housings. I've seen a 3rd gen with them and they literally shine 4x brighter than sealed beams. :D

Got any info for that guy in Plano?
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Yes, he's on eBay.

You'll need two of these kits (one per side): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/165m...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ce3cae216

What's your timeframe for the purchase? If it's immediate, I'll call him tomorrow and see if it's okay to pass his direct contact info on. I'd pass his number along as it's listed, but he's a nice but reserved older Indian gentleman and he didn't seem to be too happy about the idea of someone passing out his phone number and address to anyone he hadn't spoken to first. You may get to deal with his wife, who is more outgoing.

Also tell him you don't want the stupid blue bulbs but standard white ones (he does carry them and will swap them out at no cost). Do that and you will be able to safely enjoy our new nighttime speed limits. I have the AutoPal 7" 6024 replacements in the Series III and love them.
 
In reality, all this means is that everyone's speeding tickets get a bit cheaper - because as mentioned before everyone speeds because the limits are too low. (And Texas is so large, you have to speed if you want to get anywhere, etc., etc.)

The speed limit on this road is 70. I'm on the bike with the camera, I'm doing 80-plus, and I am still being passed - and not by exotics either.

[video=youtube;MLGPrWw-0ds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLGPrWw-0ds[/video]

I once got passed by a schoolbus doing ten over. Everyone here speeds.
 
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A fun little image:

800px-US_speed_limits_Jul_2011.svg.png
 
Viper007Bond said:
A fun little image:

800px-US_speed_limits_Jul_2011.svg.png
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That graphic's going to be needing some updating soon.. :D At least we don't have to get stuck behind trucks forced to go 5-10mph slower than everyone else any more.

Also, we have an 85mph limit on the books here, but the new ultrahighway that was intended to use it was cancelled.
 
Spectre said:
Also, we have an 85mph limit on the books here, but the new ultrahighway that was intended to use it was cancelled.
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We have a 70 MPH limit on the books but it isn't used anywhere.

Throughout the late 1990s the Oregon state legislature passed multiple bills that would have raised the speed limit to 75 miles per hour on rural Interstate Highways and up to 70 mph on certain rural two lane highways in the eastern portions of the state. Each year Governor John Kitzhaber vetoed the bill despite widespread public approval. In 2003, the Oregon state legislature passed a bill that would have raised the maximum permissible speed limit on Interstate Highways to 70 mph for cars with a 5 mph differential for trucks, up from the previous 65 mph limit for cars with a 10 mph differential, this bill was signed into law by then newly elected Governor Ted Kulongoski. In 2004 the Oregon Department of Transportation decided to not implement the increase out of concerns that it would not be safe to have trucks traveling at 65 mph. Prior to the National Maximum Speed Law, the speed limit on Oregon interstates could be as high as 75 mph. Oregon remains the only state in the contiguous United States west of the Mississippi River to have a maximum state speed limit that is under 70 mph.
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Weird, since trucks travel at 65 mph in many states, including ones that border Oregon, just fine.
 
TVR-161 said:
Wish Aus would follow suit, We have a 110kmh MAX speed limit with the exception of the northern territory.
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FYI that's 68 real units per hour aka faster than Oregon. <_<

Although with a country the size of Australia... :blink: Then again, are there even cops in the outback? :lol: (I would totally floor it)
 
I was lucky enough to go to the Northern Territory before the speed limits were brought in. With those distances, you easily get fatigued with low speeds. It's nice to be able to get from Darwin to Katherine (a 320km-ish distance) in under two hours. And you have to be able to overtake the road trains, which can be dangerous at low speeds.

From that trip, I can confirm that a rental Camry can hit 200km/h. And even in that those speeds didn't feel dangerous.
 
TVR-161 said:
Wish Aus would follow suit, We have a 110kmh MAX speed limit with the exception of the northern territory.
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Even the Danish have raised their maximum speed limit from 110 to 130 a couple years ago, and it is used on pretty much every motorway there except those in/around the major cities.
 
So I am a bit confused and have heard differing things. Is the 65 night limit instantly out tonight or do we have to wait till the signs get taken down? I know we have to wait for the signs to change before it is officially 75/80/85.
 
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