Speed freaks at the helm
EDITORIAL
It's the Texas 130 toll road, not the Texas Motor Speedway
July 12, 2006
EDITORIAL BOARD
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006
Is an 85-mph speed limit too high for part of the Texas 130 toll road being built southeast of Austin? Highway safety advocates think so, and they have common sense on their side.
If Texas allows cars and trucks to go 85 mph on the southern section of Texas 130, that would be the highest speed limit in the country. It would mean more money for the state treasury, but more danger for drivers negotiating the toll road between Seguin and Mustang Ridge.
Although the state Legislature approved speeds of up to 85 mph on roads within the Trans Texas Corridor, it would be up to the Texas Transportation Commission to approve the speed limit. Commission members should seriously study the deleterious effects of higher speeds before setting a limit as high as 85 mph.
Raising the speed limit from the restrictive 55 mph established in the 1970s to 65 and 70 mph has not resulted in the carnage that some safety advocates predicted in the 1990s. But hiking the top speed to 85 is unknown territory, and potentially quite dangerous.
A speed limit is only an approximation for many drivers on major highways. They routinely assume that the "real" speed limit — the point at which they may get a ticket — is higher, so they drive 5 to 10 mph above the posted limit.
If the southern portion of Texas 130, which is expected to be included in the Trans Texas Corridor, is posted for 85 mph, drivers will be flying along it at 90 and 95 mph or higher. At those speeds, there is no such thing as safe driving, only dangerous driving.
Thankfully, the upper reaches of the legal limit will not be allowed on the section of Texas 130 nearest Austin, which can expect heavier traffic loads. That portion of the highway was built to different standards and the top legal speed will be 70 mph. Parts of that section of the highway are scheduled to open in December.
The Texas Department of Transportation raised the speed limit on some rural interstate stretches in West Texas to 80 mph in May. That action has drawn criticism from safety advocates who argue that Texas is abdicating its role of ensuring safety on the highways.
Cintra-Zachary, the international conglomerate building the southern segment of Texas 130, will give the state more money for setting higher speed limits. Isn't that encouraging the state to abandon safety for revenue? Highway officials must be concerned about selling lives for money.
The National Highway Safety Administration reports that speed is a factor in 31 percent of traffic fatalities in this country. Speed shortens reaction time, lengthens stopping distances and increases the force of impact.
If 85 to 95 mph isn't too fast for safe driving, what is?
© 2006 Austin American-Statesman : www.statesman.com
It's the Texas 130 toll road, not the Texas Motor Speedway
July 12, 2006
EDITORIAL BOARD
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006
Is an 85-mph speed limit too high for part of the Texas 130 toll road being built southeast of Austin? Highway safety advocates think so, and they have common sense on their side.
If Texas allows cars and trucks to go 85 mph on the southern section of Texas 130, that would be the highest speed limit in the country. It would mean more money for the state treasury, but more danger for drivers negotiating the toll road between Seguin and Mustang Ridge.
Although the state Legislature approved speeds of up to 85 mph on roads within the Trans Texas Corridor, it would be up to the Texas Transportation Commission to approve the speed limit. Commission members should seriously study the deleterious effects of higher speeds before setting a limit as high as 85 mph.
Raising the speed limit from the restrictive 55 mph established in the 1970s to 65 and 70 mph has not resulted in the carnage that some safety advocates predicted in the 1990s. But hiking the top speed to 85 is unknown territory, and potentially quite dangerous.
A speed limit is only an approximation for many drivers on major highways. They routinely assume that the "real" speed limit — the point at which they may get a ticket — is higher, so they drive 5 to 10 mph above the posted limit.
If the southern portion of Texas 130, which is expected to be included in the Trans Texas Corridor, is posted for 85 mph, drivers will be flying along it at 90 and 95 mph or higher. At those speeds, there is no such thing as safe driving, only dangerous driving.
Thankfully, the upper reaches of the legal limit will not be allowed on the section of Texas 130 nearest Austin, which can expect heavier traffic loads. That portion of the highway was built to different standards and the top legal speed will be 70 mph. Parts of that section of the highway are scheduled to open in December.
The Texas Department of Transportation raised the speed limit on some rural interstate stretches in West Texas to 80 mph in May. That action has drawn criticism from safety advocates who argue that Texas is abdicating its role of ensuring safety on the highways.
Cintra-Zachary, the international conglomerate building the southern segment of Texas 130, will give the state more money for setting higher speed limits. Isn't that encouraging the state to abandon safety for revenue? Highway officials must be concerned about selling lives for money.
The National Highway Safety Administration reports that speed is a factor in 31 percent of traffic fatalities in this country. Speed shortens reaction time, lengthens stopping distances and increases the force of impact.
If 85 to 95 mph isn't too fast for safe driving, what is?
© 2006 Austin American-Statesman :
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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