The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas. This fall that will apply to speed, too.
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved an 85-mph speed limit for a new toll road between Austin and San Antonio. It will be the highest speed limit in the United States, according to local news reports.
The toll road is a 41-mile stretch of Texas State Highway 130 known as Segments 5 and 6, running from Mustang Ridge near Austin to Seguin outside of San Antonio. If motorists drive at the speed limit, they'll cover the 41 miles in less than a half hour.
The 85-mph limit surpasses the current high in the United States, set on portions of Interstate 15 in Utah and sections of I-10 and I-20 in west Texas, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
But are the higher speeds safe?
The Insurance Institute says the higher the speed, the more dangerous for the motorists. Higher speeds limit reaction times, increases braking distances and put stresses on safety equipment in cars and on roads, the institute says.
"There are limits to the amount of crash energy that can be managed by vehicles, restraint systems and roadway hardware such as barriers and crash cushions. The higher the speed, the higher the likelihood that these limits will be exceeded in crashes, limiting the protection available for vehicle occupants," according to the institute's website.
Texas officials say safety won't be compromised by the higher speeds.
"Safety is our top priority and tests have shown the designated speed is a safe one," Mark Cross, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, is quoted as saying by the Texas Tribune.
The SH 130 Concession Co. which built and will operate the toll road, says motorists bear responsibility for safety.
"We are committed to operating a safe, reliable highway for our customers. On any road, drivers hold the key to safety based on traffic, travel conditions and the capabilities of their own vehicles," the company said in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Tolls have yet to be set, but whatever they are drivers won't have to slow down to pay them.
"There will be no toll plazas on segments 5 & 6 of SH 130. Tolls will be collected electronically at certain points along the roadway, meaning motorists will not have to slow down or stop. Traffic will be 100% free flowing," according to The SH 130 Concession Co., which was formed by the Spanish construction company Cintra and the Texas company Zachary American Infrastructure.
Officials hope drivers will use the highway to avoid and alleviate congestion on Interstate 35, which the toll road operators say is more congested in the area than at any part in its entire length, from Canada to Mexico.
"We look forward to opening this segment of SH 130, which will help reduce congestion for the Austin-San Antonio corridor by providing Texas drivers and others with an alternate route for traveling through our great state," Cross told the Texas Tribune.
The toll road is required to open by November 11 but may open sooner.
"We are confident we will be open ahead of schedule,” Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the SH 130 Concession Company, told Texas Weekly.
While the higher speed promises quicker trips for drivers, it also means more money into state coffers. The concession company will pay the Texas Department of Transportation a $100 million bonus for the 85-mph limits, the Texas Tribune reported. If the limit had been set at 80 mph, the bonus would have been only $67 million, according to the report.
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Texas, a place where every wisdom is challenged....and often with the predicted tragic consequences. Their leaders G.W Bush, Rick Perry...need to say anymore about Texas.
Given the fact of how many inattentive drivers are out there. You know this will be accident highway. People have to actually drive their vehicle 100% of the time at 85 plus. We all know many will typically drive well over the posted limit. So you may well see people average 90 mph plus. Get a hot day and let's see how many tire failures we have?
I don't like toll roads. Free and open transportation should be a necessity. If congestion is bad enough that people would rather pay for a toll road, i have a better idea. How about we stop wasting money on useless wars and bailouts for banks, and start building decent infrastructure. Toll roads are a symptom of a problem – underinvestment. It's a real economic killer to have someone NOT get to their destination because of traffic. That's commerce that didn't happen, purchases that were not made, or jobs that were not filled. I can't think of a bigger waste.
i just was on the autobahn from berlin to poznan in poland. Toll road in poland. I drove a volvo at 90 most of the way, but did hit 120 mph. We have to move to the 21st century. We need high speed trains and, high speed auto lanes. I do not say that we can do it everywhere. An example is that when i was in berlin , you still had to slow down to local speed limits. I live in NJ, and there is no way you can post any more higher speed limits. There is wy too much congestion. In texas, Utah, the dakotas and Montana, you can. So you just have to be smart about it.
I think this is awesome. Makes me wish I lived in Texas.
Big Whoop. CNN keeps pushing this news in our face. Montana had "reasonable and prudent" as the speed limit for a while. That meant you could go as fast as you wanted on all highways except where actual limits were posted. The Feds told them to either assign a limit or they would take away the highway funding. It won't be very long before they tell Texas to lower the limit on this road or face loss of highway funding.
This road doesn't GET federal funding, ergo,your point is moot.
Well I do agree with few people here who wrote that driver theses days are crazy, I lived in Denmark for 15 yrs over there I had to take a theory class with pictures and test each time for 30 hrs before even passing a written test, after that 20 hrs of driving in Rain, Snow ,mist ...it's a closed circuit , then on highway. After completing it the police officer sat with me and rode with me for 30 mins before giving a nod to me. Then I moved to Louisiana here everybody is crazy ,here u dont need 85 mph speed to get killed , here they create Havoc at 25 mph only. So I really think its not speed but the person who sits behind the wheel kills. I drove at 120 mph in Germeny and still few cars passed me , if u drive safe and don't criss cross then 85 mph is a safe speed to drive.
Baby, that's way too fast!
I have an E300 Mercedes Diesel. I live in a rural part of the US where you can move sometimes. The car is perfectly
stable and gets 34 MPG at 70 mph. It is also perfectly stable and gets 31 mpg at 100 mph. Mileage does not
drop to 30 mpg until I cruise at 110 or more. Weather permitting there is nothing wrong with driving at 100 mph
on most American super highways, I do it all the time. The key is driving a car designed for the speed, and paying
attention..
Speed does not cause accidents. What causes accidents are inattentive, inexperienced or impaired drivers. Actually, driving faster saves lives in my opinion. Here's my theory: The longer you are on the road, the more likely you are to encounter an inattentive, inexperienced or impaired driver who will cause you to become involved in an accident. If you drive fast, you are on the road for much less time, lowering your chances of encountering the aforementioned bad drivers. So, driving 90 MPH instead of 45 means you cut your drive time in half and your accident opportunity drops as well.
Slower objects on the road are more dangerous than the faster ones
The faster a person is going, it is harder to make immediate decisions on sharp turns or other such things, and makes impact a whole lot more fatal
That is bit like the gun-reasoning. Guns don't supposedly don't kill. But if there are millions of them there will gun-deaths. Far more than when guns were not allowed. The same goes for a spee-limit. The higher the more deaths and wounded there will be. What ever the rootcause. At high speed things go wrong more severely and easier.
Partly true. But speed reduces reaction time and increases the impact energy in a collision by the square of the speed difference; also, speed relative to the road is absolute, and the danger of skidding and divergence from path increase with increasing speed as well.
I'd love to see better driver training in place of the rubber-stamp nonsense now prevalent in the US. But one reason such training is effective in Europe is that drivers are educated to realize that increased speed raises the risk of accident and the severity of them.
Speed does not cause accidents, but higher speeds do mean that the things that cause accidents are more likely to do so. More importantly, when the accidents occur they are more serious. Let's try this: If you drive 55 your insurance covers you 100%, at 65 you get 75% cover, at 75 you get 50% coverage, and at 85 you get 25%. Beyond that you're on your own. If you want to drive faster the rest of us should not need to bear the additional cost.
I am a heavy foot driver - no accidents in over 20 years of NYC/Manhattan driving as well as the Eastern Interstate highways. Got into one car accident (ruled no-fault) in all my life when one out-of-state idiot ran a red light at a major intersection in Manhattan over 20 years ago. Accidents occur because of inexperienced drivers... Period! Nothing to do with speed. I say as a test for four lane highways lets set speed limits for all four lanes just as a test to see how it goes. Plus I have places to get to and I need the granny drivers out of the way. Right most 2 lane are set at the standard granny pace limits (55/65mph). These 2 lanes leave will have enough room for passing. Third lane at 70-80mph. Forth/leftmost lane 80-90mph.
Speed limits are designed not just for safety; they are also set for fuel efficiency, too. Not to mention that most people drive 10 miles over the limit: the actual speed for most motorists will be 95-105, which is absurd.
You obviously don't live around SH-130. It's a well maintained freeway that bypasses Austin far outside the city limit. On the few times I've driven on it during rush hour, I didn't see more than a handful of other vehicles.
Flanders!
It's a multi-lane tollway that won't have a large amount of traffic, so it's safe for the 85 mph limit. It you don't won't to drive 85 mph, stay in the slow lane. This is how the German autobahn works. Of course, everyone in Germany gets out of the left lane. In the U.S., there are always idiots driving below the speed limit in the fast lane.
Hope ALL US Highways were this Fast! Make all major highways a US Autobahn, but one would have to train all the SLOW people to stay on the right lane. If you see flashing headlights from a mile behind you, please move to slow lane.
Hey Speed Racer, leave a few minutes early to get to your destination on time instead of jeopardizing the safety of others by your lack of planning. 85 MPH is a ridiculous rate of travel, given the lack of skills/attentiveness of some drivers.
It's no fun to drive 85 when you're allowed to do it.
Thats the best comment out there. Rest is all blah blah...
Come to Germany. Almost all the interstates (autobahns) have relatively unrestricted speeds. And while yes, they do have accidents – frequently deadly, they're not as high as one would anticipate considering trucks are restricted to 50 mph... I would almost gather that the accidents are few for the population than in the states. The difference lies in the driver's ed courses. American's (and i am one) are just not as well taught on how to drive under the faster conditions. The roads in Germany are frequently narrower and more winding and less well marked. Driving for me in the states is more of a bore anymore. Perhaps why more accidents. You're bored and distracted.
As an American I lived in Germany 13 years and can absolutey attest to your comments. Coming back here last month, and see my people drive on both lanes without getting back to the right hand lane after passing drives me crazy. Yep, boring is correct, yes limits , but gotta be realistic and now the Safety lobby dire predictions.