New Utah law could lead to Interstate 15 speed limit boost

[stefan]

New Utah law could lead to Interstate 15 speed limit boost

All vehicles soon could be allowed to drive a little faster along a stretch of Interstate 15 in central and southern Utah.

State law now allows vehicles traveling along I-15 from Nephi to Cedar City to drive 75 mph. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed HB406 into law, giving the Utah Department of Transportation authority to determine if the speed limit safely can be increased to 80 mph or higher between Mile Markers 222 and 64.

To determine whether the speed limit could be safely raised, UDOT will be responsible for conducting a study on the subject. An environmental study also will be required to determine the effects of raising the speed limit.

Opponents said higher speed limits would result in increased deaths from traffic wrecks.
Supporters said vehicle speed doesn

[stefan]

other law updates have been listed and archived on this site:

http://www.ooida.com/Legislative_Watch/2007/UT/UT.htm

[live2ride]

Bring it on, everyone goes 85 through there regardless of the speed! Just means I can make it down south even quicker!!

[Jaxx]

I did my own research on this a couple of weekends ago and cruise controlled the whole section at a nice 82 MPH. My conclusion is that it was safe and I burned a little extra gas. It was worth it for the extra time saved going to Vegas.

[accadacca]

I go 80 in the passenger lane on my two wheeler.

[Sombeech]

[quote=stefan]Supporters said vehicle speed doesn

[stefan]

[quote=Sombeech][quote=stefan]Supporters said vehicle speed doesn

[Jaxx]

I think that 75 MPH is fast enough. Higher speeds equal higher damage, bodily and property. What is the difference between damage done at 75 and 85? I have no idea.
People drive in the 80's in the 75 zone anyway.

[denaliguide]

accidents at higher speeds will be more devastating than slower speeds. i don't think you can argue with that. the forces of deceleration on your body at 35 are not neccessairly doubled at 70. its considerably higher. that being said its not neccessairly the speed that causes the accident. driver distraction is more commonly the cause of accidents at any speed.

raising the speed limit by 5mph is token at best. everyone is already going that speed. i notice people often exceeding the posted by 5 to 10mph all the time. does this mean that there will not be a fudge factor of 5 mph or so before you will be pulled over? as it is now, you rarely will be pulled over for 5mph over the posted.

so, i guess i don't see the point in raising it because if you do people will be doing 85 to 90. and still blowing by my underpowered 4runner. used to be at 55 i had a chance to keep up. except on the big hills.

[Sombeech]

We could always use the autobahns for comparison of high speed deaths....