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AP reports that Montana lawmakers are drafting bills that would raise the daytime speed limit on Montana interstate highways from 75 to 80 and possibly as high as 85 mph. “I just think our roads are engineered well, and technology is such we can drive those roads safely,” says Art Wittich noting that Utah, Wyoming and Idaho have raised their speed limits above 75, and they haven't had any problems and drivers on German autobahns average about 84 mph. State Senator Scott Sales says he spent seven months working in the Bakken oil patch, driving back and forth to Bozeman regularly. “If I could drive 85 mph on the interstate, it would save an hour,” says Sales. “Eighty-five would be fine with me."
A few years ago Texas opened a 40 mile stretch on part of a toll road called the Pickle Parkway between Austin and San Antonio. The tolled bypass was supposed to help relieve the bottleneck around Austin but the highway was built so far to the east that practically nobody used it. In desperation, the state raised the toll road speed limit to 85 mph, the fastest in the nation. "The idea was that drivers could drop the top, drop the hammer, crank the music and fly right past Austin," says Wade Goodyn. "It's a beautiful, wide-open highway — but it's empty, and the builders are nearly bankrupt."
(Score: 2) by bootsy on Tuesday December 02 2014, @01:20PM
I think the French system is pretty sensible. It's in km per hour but it is basically 80mph in the dry and 70mph if it rains.
The UK system is silly. 70mph for a car on a daul carriage way and a motorway yet vehicles over 2.5 metric tonnes can go faster on a motorway than a dual carriage way. We acknowledge motorways are safter than dual carriageways and allow faster driving apart from for cars.
Everyone basically does 80mph in car and the police don't seem to ban. We have an instant driving ban if you do over 100mph.
Last year UK motorways were the safest roads in Europe per distance travelled which given how full they are is an impressive result as European roads tend to be quieter.
(Score: 2) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday December 02 2014, @02:45PM
I think the busy part of the Autobahn system would work better. Digital signs that controllers set the speed limit on depending on traffic and conditions. In the wide open part of the road when there is no weather? Whatever you want.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday December 02 2014, @09:59PM
We had those for about a year in a part of St. Louis in a half-assed probably-way-too-expensive means to combat the rampant traffic issues that plague St. Louis due to the fact that we allow morons to drive.
To no one's surprise, after a day of half the people trying to obey the signs calling for 40 mph on the highway because traffic was fucked while the other half was whipping around them doing about 70 and then slamming on their brakes (usually) stopping just before they hit the guys in front of them who were at a standstill, generally no one paid any attention to the signs at all, and just went on doing the things that they were doing before.
I think the biggest problem that they had though was that they didn't take the signs below 40. There were times that in order to actually have fixed the traffic, they should have had people going 5 miles an hour. At least that would be a better indicator that it's just time to turn around and try again later.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!