Need for speed? Texas boasts fastest U.S. road

SAN ANTONIO Motorists, start your engines. It's opening day for the last leg of a Texas toll road with the nation's fastest speed limit.

The final 41-mile stretch of Texas Highway 130 will open Wednesday after three years of construction. The speed limit will be 85 mph.

The toll road is intended to help alleviate the increasingly crowded Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, which are two of the state's largest metropolitan areas.

The new stretch will be from Mustang Ridge, about 10 miles south of Austin's international airport, to Interstate 10 just east of Seguin. A 50-mile stretch bypassing Austin is already open.

Tolls for personal vehicles displaying an electronic toll tag will be about 15 cents per mile. But no tolls will be collected until Nov. 11.

The State Transportation Commission gave the green light for the high speed limit after an extensive safety study, CBS Austin affiliate KEYE-TV reports.

The state already has 80 mph speed limits on some highways in rural west Texas, KEYE-TV reports.

[DukeGanote]

Rural interstates are the fastest, safest, most fuel efficient rural roads. For example, Texas' rural interstate fatality rate (1.25) was far lower than other rural roads' rates (up to 4.95 deaths per 100M travel miles in 2009)!

Interstates can easily handle higher speeds due to safety features like interchanges that eliminate deadly side impacts, barriers against head-on crashes, etc.

Germany doesn't shackle motorists with speed limits on rural Autobahns because the roads are so safe. Even though Germany is the crossroads of Europe, and hosts drivers from restrictive nations (including U.S. military personnel and families), the safety record is quite impressive.

Simple physics provides the best safety. Misguided hand-wringing and radar-gun slinging is pure political placebo.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2009/fi30.cfm
http://*******.com/autobahn2010

[seenmuch]

I drove many times across Montana in the 1990s when they had "Reasonable & Prudent" as the limit during daylight hours. On the freeway traffic calmly and safely settled to ~90 mph. Traffic settled to about 75 mph on two lane highways. I drove tens of thousands of miles safely, comfortably and legally in the 90 mph range. Traffic would come out of Wyoming @ ~ 80-83 mph on I-25. As soon as we crossed the border average speeds went up to ~90 mph.

Drivers safely traveled at these speeds for the 6+ years they had the "Reasonable & Prudent" it was safer to drive across the state. During that time that had no numerical limit they documented a lower fatality rate than exists today with a numerical limit today.

The 85 posted limit could be safely posted across most of the western US today. Utah is currently considering a statewide posting of a 80 mph freeway posted limit since their current experimental 80 mph posted limit has had no effect on safety. All indications are that 80 mph will be the posted rural freeway limit across Utah by 2014.

I hope this new 85 posted limit has an effect of other states making them raise their posted limit to match reality of this being the average rural freeway travel speed.

[Colt4542]

Basic rule of driving: Never exceed your capabilities, the condition of your vehicle or the driving conditions (traffic/weather). It takes a vehicle in good condition riding on high quality tires to safely cruise at 85+.

I predict a massive pileup with multiple fatalities the first time a fog rolls in.

[julesarcher1]

Doing 85 is no big deal. The problem is that no matter what the speed limit is people will go over it. By 5 or 10 or . . . doesn't take much to reach 100 at that point.

There is a bigger problem than fast speeds. It's different speeds. If everyone goes the same speed, it is much safer. But of course that won't happen. Slow people better stay out of the way. I'll be one of them.

[Forty-Four]

Exactly what I was trying to say before. I would definitely be a member of the left lane club, unless I feel like saving gas. Of course, I am typically more afraid of going over the speed limit on the freeway. Not because of the speed itself, but because I am more afraid of speed traps on them.

[lloydbest1]

In a nod to NINTHST78:

In 1970 I was bitten by a rattlesnake in northwestern Nevada. This area has to be one of the most isolated regions in the lower 48 and I was about 200 mile from the nearest hospital.
Got a hold of the Nevada State Patrol and was told to wait. The barracks was about 60 mile away, so I expected to wait about an hour. I filled that time doing some first aid and the guy showed up in less than 30 minutes!
I was getting pretty wobbly by this time but I remember running the nearly 200 miles to the hospital in about 85 minutes. As "NINTH" pointed out, Nevada had no specified legal limit back then. The cop I rode with had this souped up Plymoth Fury III with the biggest power plant then offered. Given this was a serious medical emergency he put the pedal THROUGH the metal and on the straightaways we were roaring past vehicles - going 120 themselves - as though they were standing still.

[royrogers1948]

Any one driving this road at night better keep an eye open for deer!!

[royrogers1948]

Any one driving this road at night better keep an eye open for deer!!

[3103BA]

In late 2006, my late wife and I drove to the Phoenix AZ area from Chicago going west on I-12 the I-10 from Hammond LA. After we left San Antonio heading west the speed limit went to 80mph which was a surprsie as our maps showed it to be 75 mph. Vehilcews were doing 90-100 along side us. I never went more than 70 as a higher speed was dangerous as well as a gas guzzler. The 85 mph limit is insane.

KS Sachs

[Forty-Four]

You don't have to do that speed if you don't want to. That is what the other lane is for.

Brad Keslowski was boasting about being back here in his home state of Michigan and about how much he hates being passed. He said he was never happier to be passed because he knew he was home when he was passed by 6 cars while he himself was doing 90 (speed limit of 70). State police can't be everywhere.

All I can say is that people can't panic and just go with traffic and things will remain as safe as any other road. I mean, it isn't like it is a city road or back country road.

[NinthSt78]

Nothing new but boastfulness. In the late 60's, Nevada had "reasonable & proper" which meant many things to different people. As a kid, I remember riding in a car at 65 MPH being passed on the Nevada highway by bigger, more powerful cars going twice as fast.