Texas lapping rest of country, will raise speed limit from 80 to 85MPH

[angus]

Also, it's just a bill that hasn't become law, so don't get too excited yet. 

dude, it's a done deal.  This is Texas.  We do this kind of stuff simply because we can.

The article says it passed the house and still has to get past the senate.

Maybe that's old news by now.  I think it's great.  Pretty much from Cleveland to Denver you can blow through safely at that speed, and on IH5 through the San Joaquin valley, the speed limits could be raised. 

But none of that's gonna help you.  I've driven that stretch of 45 headed north from Downton Houston on weekdays.  It'll still be a traffic jam all the way to your place I'd imagine.  I think those 85-mph places are hundreds of miles from where you live.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

nah, I drive the Hardy Toll Road

[DrScholl]

Don't see what the big deal is, the speed limit was already high and it's not like speed limit changes are all that much of an accomplishment.

[Joe Republic]

Still not enough.  They need to raise it to at least 94 mph, and have this law take effect retroactively to October 2009, when I got that ticket somewhere on I-20.

Can't blame me for wanting to get the hell out of west Texas as quickly as damn well possible.

[Sbane]

Well, that's nice. Maybe one day we'll consider raising our test scores or percentage of children with health insurance.

run over all Dems and/or illegals on the interstate highways?

They clean up after you jmfcst. Remember that.

[krazen1211]

Well, that's nice. Maybe one day we'll consider raising our test scores or percentage of children with health insurance.

Nope.

Texas test scores for whites, blacks, and hispanics outperform the nation, and most blue states, whites, blacks, and hispanics.

[opebo]

Can't blame me for wanting to get the hell out of west Texas as quickly as damn well possible.

One can certainly blame you for being there in the first place.  Why would anyone go to Texas?  Particularly the western part of it?  And particularly by automobile?  Your errors were numerous Joey Public.

[Sbane]

So does this raise the speed limit on I-45 between Dallas and Houston? Or on the other freeways connecting the urban areas? I am guessing not since Texas has retarded laws where speed limits are based on population density of counties, meaning all of east and central Texas can't go above 70.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

So does this raise the speed limit on I-45 between Dallas and Houston? Or on the other freeways connecting the urban areas? I am guessing not since Texas has retarded laws where speed limits are based on population density of counties, meaning all of east and central Texas can't go above 70.

yeah, there are only 520 miles of interstate in Texas where the speed limit is 80MPH, not a lot considering the size of the state.  I doubt any part of I45 between Dallas and Houston will have its speed limit raised.  It's just too hilly.  Probably have to go the panhandle or maybe between Houston and San Antonio for the 85MPH to be useful.

Again, raising it to 85 is mostly just all-hat-no-cattle

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I am clearly not the only one who fails to see what type of point jmfcst is trying to make here. Raising the speed limit 5 mph in such a desolate area is some type of ultimate insult to liberal elitism?

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

There is no speed limit in Montana.

[cinyc]

There is no speed limit in Montana.

Yes there is.  75.  Since 1999, after the state's Supreme Court overturned the old "reasonable and proper" speed limit for being too vague.

[Joe Republic]

Can't blame me for wanting to get the hell out of west Texas as quickly as damn well possible.

One can certainly blame you for being there in the first place.  Why would anyone go to Texas?  Particularly the western part of it?  And particularly by automobile?  Your errors were numerous Joey Public.

If you can think of a better way of getting a rental car from Austin to Albuquerque within 48 hours and avoiding west Texas, be my guest, ophœbo.

[Mechaman]

Can't blame me for wanting to get the hell out of west Texas as quickly as damn well possible.

One can certainly blame you for being there in the first place.  Why would anyone go to Texas?  Particularly the western part of it?  And particularly by automobile?  Your errors were numerous Joey Public.

If you can think of a better way of getting a rental car from Austin to Albuquerque within 48 hours and avoiding west Texas, be my guest, ophœbo.

This.
I don't know what is worse to drive through: West Texas, or Western Kansas.
Then again, I've heard horror stories about North Dakota so I guess I should consider myself blessed never to have driven through there.

[Mechaman]

I am clearly not the only one who fails to see what type of point jmfcst is trying to make here. Raising the speed limit 5 mph in such a desolate area is some type of ultimate insult to liberal elitism?

If anything by raising the mph to 85 they are complimenting liberals by shortening the amount of time they spend in Texas while headed to Colorado to score some awesome dope in Boulder.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I don't know what is worse to drive through: West Texas, or Western Kansas.
Then again, I've heard horror stories about North Dakota so I guess I should consider myself blessed never to have driven through there.

eastern NM is ghost land also.

[King]

Whatever burns your oil reserves quicker I suppose.

[specific_name]

So even Texas has a good idea occasionally. Living in the NE, the speed limits are absurdly low. I wouldn't expect 85, but a return to 75 on I-684 would be perfectly appropriate. Hell the thruway in rural areas should follow suit.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Then again, I've heard horror stories about North Dakota so I guess I should consider myself blessed never to have driven through there.

I am so used to North Dakota it doesn't bother me at all, but I can see how bizarre and horrifying it'd appear to someone who isn't. See the Google Maps thing I posted above? That is literally the entire state during the summer. Between Bismarck and Fargo (I've never really gone west of the Bismarck area, at least not as an adult on my own), which is about 200 miles the largest town is one of about 15,000, and there are only about five places to stop for gas, seriously. You'll often see signs saying there's an exit but that there are no services, and if you ever check out one of those towns off the side of the road you might find it very creepy. You're quite likely to see something like an old grain silo which is rotting and abandoned but it's still up because no one will pay to demolish it. Rural North Dakota has a ratio of probably one obviously abandoned but still up building per every 50 people to give you an idea of why those small towns come across as very creepy. But on I-94 you can easily ignore them. Jamestown (the aforementioned town which is the largest on the route) isn't really that bad though, it has gas stations and feels like civilization and is a nice break. It's not very big but because of the route is very travel-oriented. But overall, driving in the daylight during the summer isn't all that bad, it's kind of a nice view actually.

The real creepiness is at night and/or winter. At night you are basically driving into pure blackness. There aren't many cars heading in the opposite direction, so that kind of adds to the atmosphere, the few headlights you see are creepy. There are some billboards, but not as many as expected. It's kind of like driving into outer space, or like you're exploring some type of alien world. You can literally see Bismarck from 20 miles away at night, because it's so flat and there's no other type of settlement. So it feels like you are discovering some sort of lost civilization. It's quite strange. But what really takes the cake is the winter during the day. It's extremely cold, and everywhere is pure white. White sky usually, huge fields of white all around you. The occasional leafless tree. It's extremely depressing. Minnesota isn't quite like that because there are more billboards and more trees and it's not quite as flat. The lack of trees in ND is what really stands out.

[Sbane]

I once pulled off an exit for Bard, NM off I-40. There was no town of course and it was completely dark with the wind howling. I got out of the car for a bit and it was definitely one of the creepiest experiences.

And I have driven through West Texas at 2 in the morning. Creepy as hell as well.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

[memphis]

The map is a bit misleading because it breaks down into counties for TX but nowhere else. Most interstates are 55 in cities and higher in rural areas. It looks like TX is rather conservative in keeping drivers at 70 throughout most of the state. I was on vacation in Utah last summer, and a section of I-15 there is 80 mph as well.

[King]

The larger Western states need faster speed limits because there is greater distance between cities.  It's just good commerce.

Hard to get up to 85 in Massachusetts driving between cities when you arrive at your destination after just a couple of minutes.

[Franzl]

85 is pretty reasonable for most areas. Although, where they're considering it in Western Texas, I'd think that no nummerical limit would be necessary.

[Mechaman]

The larger Western states need faster speed limits because there is greater distance between cities.  It's just good commerce.

Hard to get up to 85 in Massachusetts driving between cities when you arrive at your destination after just a couple of minutes.

THis pretty much sums up my thoughts on the whole speed limit debate.  I would love to get to Missoula with spending as little time as possible in Kansas, the boring hundred miles or so of eastern Colorado I have to drive to get near the Denver area, and even some parts of Wyoming as soon as possible.  The drive around the Denver area into southern Wyoming as well as the drive from Livingston, MT to Missoula is quite enjoyable though, so I don't really mind if they have lower speed laws in those areas.