Posted on 03/05/2010 7:10:49 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Just because the speed limit on Virginia highways can go to 70 miles per hour on July 1 doesn't mean it will.
Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill Monday to raise the maximum potential speed limit on interstates and other major roads from 65 mph, effective in the new fiscal year.
But it's the Virginia Department of Transportation that decides whether to implement an actual increase and, if so, where.
That process could take four months or longer, transportation officials said Thursday.
Before it decides, VDOT intends to scrutinize each eligible section of road from a physical standpoint and crunch traffic, accident and law enforcement figures. It is not clear how long that will take, nor what priority it will receive. Until that work is done, nothing changes.
The upshot: Don't accelerate yet.
"These studies will take time, and recent staff reductions may slow down progress," said Jason Bond, a VDOT spokesman in the Salem District.
For now, I-81 will remain posted at 65 mph, except for 14.7 miles near Roanoke and segments in Harrisonburg and Winchester where the limit is 60 mph.
Eligible roads include up to 1,130 miles of interstate and 150 miles of multilane, divided, limited access highways, according to General Assembly staffers.
That would include sections of U.S. 460 Bypass in Montgomery County, where speed limits were raised in August 2008 to 65 mph from 55 mph.
A cost estimate for the project was not available.
VDOT's own tracking shows that many motorists have already driven at the planned new limit and presumably still do. In 2008, the last time the data came out, the average speed for cars on I-81 was 70 or 71 mph in several places in Southwest Virginia.
State police officials were disinclined to describe how troopers would respond to a speed limit increase.
Corinne Geller, state police spokeswoman, said the agency's official policy is "we enforce the speed limit."
Because resources are limited, however, troopers tend to pull over the drivers who pose the greatest risk -- those exceeding the limit most egregiously, she said.
Geller disputed the notion that there is a trigger point above the speed limit at which troopers issue tickets. Therefore, questions about the supposed trigger point going up along with any speed limit change were pointless.
Geller also said she could not discuss how higher speed limits might affect an existing Virginia law that deems going 80 mph to be reckless driving, a misdemeanor.
Should that be raised? She said she could not comment because the change in the law has not taken effect.
Del. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson County, who sponsored the House version of the speed limit bill and is a former state trooper, said the lawmakers might change the 80-mph threshold for reckless driving but not right away.
"We're talking about doing something to address that next year," Carrico said.
The options include imposing an enhanced fine but no misdemeanor charge for speeders clocked between 80 and 90 mph, Carrico said.
Outside a Christiansburg restaurant near I-81, in the court of public opinion, the speed limit increase authorization has critics.
Jim Worley, 75, of Pembroke predicted a 70 mph limit would lead to drivers routinely going 75.
"It's too darn fast," he said.
Charles Miller, 66, of New Castle agreed.
"Sixty-five is plenty fast," he said. "It should be 55."
During deliberations in Richmond, some who tried to block the rise to 70 mph argued to lawmakers that faster cars, trucks and motorcycles will have worse accidents. It's pure physics, critics said.
A 5 mph increase in a vehicle's speed in a collision results in an exponential increase in the kinetic energy released, warned Chris LaGow, an insurance lobbyist.
McDonnell said not to worry.
"This slight increase in our speed limit will be safe for motorists and help get Virginians to their destinations a little quicker each day. This is an important early step towards our common goal of improving transportation in the Commonwealth," according to a governor's news release.
State officials said 32 states already have 70 mph speed limits, and 13 allow motorists to drive 75 mph, the release said.
So much for reduced dependence on foreign oil.
The faster a vehicle goes, the more fuel it burns to go one mile, scientists say.
According to data the federal government developed from a 1999 study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, gas mileage decreases "rapidly at speeds above 60 mph," says the U.S. Department of Energy Web site called fueleconomy.gov.
"You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas."
>>A 5 mph increase in a vehicle’s speed in a collision results in an exponential increase in the kinetic energy released, warned Chris LaGow, an insurance lobbyist. <<
Gosh, I’m sure glad I didn’t release any kinetic energy when I was doing 140 in eastern Montana on I-94 in my Chrysler 300m.
This article is written for Jr. High kids.
“65 is plenty fast,, it should be 55”
When geezers attack,,,
LOL
>>Geller also said she could not discuss how higher speed limits might affect an existing Virginia law that deems going 80 mph to be reckless driving, a misdemeanor. <<
When I move to the east coast I will be driving in Virginia. The information above is a good thing to know.
"It's too darn fast," he said.
Charles Miller, 66, of New Castle agreed.
"Sixty-five is plenty fast," he said. "It should be 55."
These dadblasted kids today with their newfangled whatchamacall auto-mo-biles!
Stick to your golf cart. :)
what, no global warming
>>”You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas.”<<
In my scion xB brick with low gearing it’s more like $1. In an aerodynamic sports car with a nice high gear, I suspect it is much less.
I have checked my own car, the difference between 65 and 80 (steady speed) is two mile per gallon decrease in efficiency. My time is worth more than that.
Vans often have their own limits
Damn right. If you can’t keep up with traffic stay off the road.
Over 55 increases the risk of the wooden spokes coming off the wheels on your model T.
I have a question for the “Freeper Libertarian Drivers” who think traffic violations should not be enforced....
If Virginia raises the limit from 65 to 70, it will change how many people drive. Let me explain -
A general unofficial “rule” for law enforcement, except under certain conditions - is that there is a window of “grace” with speed limits, particularly on highways. Officers rarely (at least in my experience) will pull someone over simply because they are 1-3 or even 5 mph over the posted speed (depends sometimes on that posted speed).
Here in Arkansas, where we already have 70mph limits - drivers almost without exception - drive at least 5mph OVER the posted speed. ON smaller rural highways, where the limit is 55, the “average” drivers go 60 and rarely get bothered by LEOs. On the 70mph interstates - 75mph is on the lower end of average.
So - if Virginia were to raise the limit to 70, but then begin writing tickets for small margins over that - would they suddenly be in the “wrong”?
And this isn’t about what is a “fair” speed limit. The law is the law. So many of us call ourselves “moral” or even claim the name of “Christian”, yet we blatantly and regularly violate regular laws just cause we don’t agree... Nothing moral, ethical, or Christian about that.
>>I have checked my own car, the difference between 65 and 80 (steady speed) is two mile per gallon decrease in efficiency. My time is worth more than that.<<
Especially when you are going long distances, like, say, hundreds of miles. And the less time you spend on the road, the less time you will be at risk of being in an accident caused by driver fatigue.
What's the moral or ethical underpinning to arbitrary speed limits on freeways?
I got pulled over in a 60 doing 86 in my Scion and I said to the cop, “What?! My mileage goes out the window once I hit 75!”
He came back with a ticket for doing 75. :)
Exponential, are you kidding me. Learn to use math. The kinetic energy goes up as the square of the speed (at least at speeds not close to the speed of light), and not exponential. Science and math should never be trusted by those who avoided it in high school and college.
When I moved back to Virginia from South Carolina a few years ago, it took me a while (and a couple of near-misses with the law) to remember that at least around Richmond, folks in Virginia actually sort of pay attention to the speed limit and tend to stay within about 5 mph of it, as the article states. This was in contrast to SC, where SCDOT could save a lot of money just taking down the speed limit signs because nobody obeys them anyhow! :)
}:-)4
They didn’t have cars in biblical times, you can’t trick me.
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