May 26, 2006, 10:13AM
For life in the fast lane, head to far West Texas
As of Saturday, 80 mph limit will be the nation's top posted speed
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
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-->AUSTIN - Call it the cowboy Autobahn.
In a state obsessed with superlatives, Texas just added another to the list: The highest posted speed limit in the nation — 80 mph on two stretches of far West Texas highway.
Transportation commissioners on Thursday approved the speed limit.
Life in the fast lane starts Saturday, when officials unveil the first 80 mph speed limit sign on a bare shoulder of highway outside of Fort Stockton, said Rep. Pete Gallego, who championed the legislation that led to the change.
Gallego said the new speed limit applies to less than 1 percent of the state's 79,000 miles of highway.
"I think the average driver is already speeding in that stretch of West Texas under the current law," said Gallego, D-Alpine. "It essentially legalizes the behavior that's already out there and I don't expect any change in safety. I really don't think there's going to be too much difference. We might see fewer traffic tickets, I suppose."
Gallego said critics of the measure just don't get West Texas, a place where the road goes on forever and the driving never seems to end.
"Where I live, there are such lonely stretches of highway that DPS might stop you if you're doing 66 in a 65 just to have somebody to talk to," Gallego said.
The new speed zones stretch from El Paso to Kerrville and Monahans to the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains. 80 mph on more than 521 miles of Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 in rural west Texas, through the Davis Mountains and toward the southern tip of the Rockies.
While state officials say the roads can take it, safety and energy conservation advocates warn the new speed limit will cost lives and hit drivers in the wallet at a time of spiking fuel prices.
"This will result in more deaths. The research is pretty clear about that," Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, told the Associated Press. "You get someplace faster, but at what cost?"
"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," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, Texas director of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Drivers determine limit
The safety of the new law was tested before it was approved, transportation officials said.
Speed studies conducted by the department showed that 85 percent of drivers along the two stretches were already going 76-79 mph in 75 mph zones, said Carlos Lopez, the transportation department's director of the traffic operations division.
"People on the road help us determine what speeds ought to be," Lopez said.
The transportation department also found that in the three years after the speed limit was changed to 75 mph in parts of West Texas, the number of fatalities in those areas actually dropped, Lopez said.
He noted that the highways affected are mostly four-lane, razor-straight, well-maintained roadways with wide shoulders and low traffic volumes. In some parts, exits are 14 miles apart, he said.
State to monitor road
While there may be some drivers who will test the new limit, or fly way past it, Lopez said he expects most drivers to abide by the new speed limit for the sake of safety.
"When you start going over 80 are people really going to feel comfortable?" said Lopez.
He believes the answer is no, but said the state will keep monitoring the area for safety.
"We're going to keep tabs on it," Lopez said. "If we need to go back down, we will."
The new speed limit doesn't apply to large trucks, which are limited to 70 mph during the day. The maximum nighttime speed limit for all drivers remains 65 mph.
New legislation would be required to extend the limits to other portions of the highway system.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For life in the fast lane, head to far West Texas
As of Saturday, 80 mph limit will be the nation's top posted speed
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
<!-- commented out ad <iframe width="1" height="1" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder=0 scrolling=no></iframe> <script></script>
-->AUSTIN - Call it the cowboy Autobahn.
In a state obsessed with superlatives, Texas just added another to the list: The highest posted speed limit in the nation — 80 mph on two stretches of far West Texas highway.
Transportation commissioners on Thursday approved the speed limit.
Life in the fast lane starts Saturday, when officials unveil the first 80 mph speed limit sign on a bare shoulder of highway outside of Fort Stockton, said Rep. Pete Gallego, who championed the legislation that led to the change.
Gallego said the new speed limit applies to less than 1 percent of the state's 79,000 miles of highway.
"I think the average driver is already speeding in that stretch of West Texas under the current law," said Gallego, D-Alpine. "It essentially legalizes the behavior that's already out there and I don't expect any change in safety. I really don't think there's going to be too much difference. We might see fewer traffic tickets, I suppose."
Gallego said critics of the measure just don't get West Texas, a place where the road goes on forever and the driving never seems to end.
"Where I live, there are such lonely stretches of highway that DPS might stop you if you're doing 66 in a 65 just to have somebody to talk to," Gallego said.
The new speed zones stretch from El Paso to Kerrville and Monahans to the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains. 80 mph on more than 521 miles of Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 in rural west Texas, through the Davis Mountains and toward the southern tip of the Rockies.
While state officials say the roads can take it, safety and energy conservation advocates warn the new speed limit will cost lives and hit drivers in the wallet at a time of spiking fuel prices.
"This will result in more deaths. The research is pretty clear about that," Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, told the Associated Press. "You get someplace faster, but at what cost?"
"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," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, Texas director of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Drivers determine limit
The safety of the new law was tested before it was approved, transportation officials said.
Speed studies conducted by the department showed that 85 percent of drivers along the two stretches were already going 76-79 mph in 75 mph zones, said Carlos Lopez, the transportation department's director of the traffic operations division.
"People on the road help us determine what speeds ought to be," Lopez said.
The transportation department also found that in the three years after the speed limit was changed to 75 mph in parts of West Texas, the number of fatalities in those areas actually dropped, Lopez said.
He noted that the highways affected are mostly four-lane, razor-straight, well-maintained roadways with wide shoulders and low traffic volumes. In some parts, exits are 14 miles apart, he said.
State to monitor road
While there may be some drivers who will test the new limit, or fly way past it, Lopez said he expects most drivers to abide by the new speed limit for the sake of safety.
"When you start going over 80 are people really going to feel comfortable?" said Lopez.
He believes the answer is no, but said the state will keep monitoring the area for safety.
"We're going to keep tabs on it," Lopez said. "If we need to go back down, we will."
The new speed limit doesn't apply to large trucks, which are limited to 70 mph during the day. The maximum nighttime speed limit for all drivers remains 65 mph.
New legislation would be required to extend the limits to other portions of the highway system.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
