Texas Raises Speed Limit
Leave it to Texas to raise the speed limit in the face of ever-increasing oil prices... That's right, the state of Texas is raising the speed limit along 500 miles of interstate to 80 mph. To be fair, the increase is limited to ten fairly desolate counties in west Texas. But still...
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is projecting an increase in highway deaths, and the Department of Energy estimates that every 5 mph translates results in the equivalent of paying an extra twenty cents per gallon of gas (though I have no idea what assumptions this statement is based on). With regard to the safety issue, Tom Smith (Texas director of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen) said:
You can repeal the speed limit law, but you can't repeal the law of physics. People don't survive crashes at these excessive speeds.
However, Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson claims that the increased speed limit is safe on the roads in question. And with regard to the energy conservation issue, he went on to say that the state is responsible for drivers who "choose to consume their wealth." Wow. Sounds like he's bucking for an appointment as a White House energy advisor.
[Source: FOXNews.com]
--
Please CLICK HERE to read/leave comments on this entry
"Texas Raises Speed Limit" was first published at fivecentnickel.com
Just when I thought I had it all figured out, it turns out that the 'new and improved' Kroger gas discount is better than I thought (but worse than it used to be). According to the signs on the pumps, you can still get $0.10/gallon ... Read
Okay, this is kind of annoying. Last week I reported that Kroger is overhauling their gas discount program. According to the note on my receipt, details would be forthcoming in the May 6th circular. So when I checked the circular, they had a vague blurb ... Read
I welcome this change, for those of you who don't live in Texas, you have no idea how long it takes to drive from point a to point b. Heck, it takes 14 hours to go from one end (El Paso) to the other (Beaumont) driving non-stop at 60 mph.
There was an article in my local paper last week about this. The article contained facts on how states that raised the speed limit have fewer accidents and fatalities compared to the states that still have the speed limit set at 55 MPH.
(BTW I am in Tennessee where the speed limit is 55 MPH)
safety and advocacy groups always lement the increase in deaths that will occur from increases in speed limits. The raise of the interstate speed limits across the country was accompanied by many gloomy predictions of increased deaths which did not materialize.
Many factors contribute to this but the warnings begin to sound like crying wolf after a while.
If they really want to save lives decrease the speed limit to somewhere around 40-45. Studies show that somewhere in there deaths just fall right through the floor. The biggest jump is from there up to 55. After 55 the jumps are much smaller. So why is 55 the great safe speed limit? Its not. Its just that nobody would ever accept 45 so they go for what they think they can maybe get which has only minimal improvement in safety.
Now as to energy efficiency, thats a different point and a valid one. My understanding is that speed limits orginally came down to 55 from around 70 in the 70s oil crisis. Of course once the oil crisis was over, the safety advocates did a good PR job of keeping them from going back up for reasons that had nothing to do with them coming down.
So will we now have to bring the limits back down due to energy shortages. We aren't there yet but we might get there eventually. I don't think prices will be the driver, it will be supply. If we begin to be unable to meet demand, expect federal law to mandate a lower speed limit and probably an encouragement to ticket aggressively.
Yes, the hysterics of the IIHS is sickening. If they had their way the speed limit on highways would be 40 MPH, we'd have to wear helmuts, and everyone's premium would be $2000 a year. Wake up people, car insurance is a for profit industry that's making money hand over fist - why do they everybody is getting into it? Look at Amica, they used to be an exclusive referral only brand - now anybody can join. The per vehicle number of claims in the past 20 years has dropped significantly and rates sure haven't.
Keeping people from driving like idiots at any speed - yapping in their cell, parking in the left lane, cutting people off, tailgating at high speeds, drunk driving etc. is what would really reduce highway deaths.
David,
Agree with all you said about IIHS. As a personal experience with car insurance I am with a major supplier and over the past 3-5 years I have seen my premiums coming down every single billing cycle. I have probably had reductions on the order of 25% in the premiums of my auto insurance. And I already had every max discount you could get for multi-car, multi-line, security system, accident free 10+ years etc.
From my experience anyway competition has gotten pretty fierce in auto insurance and rates are coming down. This is merely offset by how much they are jacking up my home insurance rates but thats another story.
