Big Guns, Big Trucks, Big Hair, Big boobs, Big everything, yep, that's good ol Texas and we aint skeered of nothin...

Only way to cross that desolate wasteland.

"There’s a clear safety downside to raising safety limits," spokesperson Russ Rader told NBC News. "The research is absolutely clear that high speed limits lead to higher crash deaths."

But that ain't a-gonna stop us hyar in Texus, th' Lone Star Brain Cell State!

Neeeeeeeeee-HAH!!

Only old ladies drive 85 mph on the Autobahn.

klondiko

Only way to cross that desolate wasteland.

It's funny you mention that as Texas is attracting many businesses and corporations from California. Good work, libtards.

The REAL Autobahn is much more advanced than any highway, freeway our country has to offer. You have to see it and drive it to know.

Klondiko only way to cross any desolate wasteland is Quick, Fast, and in a Hurry

myspellcheckerisbroken.....using your idea that 'stupid kills' the Bush better stay away....

It's funny you mention that as Texas is attracting many businesses and corporations from California. Good work, libtards.

Not to forget to mention those less than minimum wage jobs or the tent cities the people that fill those low paying jobs are filling because even though they are working two jobs and 16 hour work days, they cannot find an open space in your homeless shelters to take them all in.

The fall of Texas will be when the rest of the states all tell the corporate world like Texas did that they will not tax them if they bring the business to their states as well. Imagine what Texas will look like if the republican party wins and wipes out taxation for the top tier earners and place those same tax losses on the middle and lower classes. Corporations will trade in arid Texas for river strewn states where they can dump their runnoffs into the rivers instead of paying to have their refuse taken away to disposal sites.

High speed limits make a lot of sense for toll roads like this one. The main purpose of the road is to bypass Austin traffic (which is terrible, btw), so it mainly goes through rural areas.

If it was a toll road in a crowded city, it might not work as well. However, as long as they stay in the open country, I think it's a great idea to have toll roads with high speed limits.

One way to improve the gene pool, after a few hundred fools kill themselves on your roads ! Way to go Texas !!

Texas highway patrol calls it illegal immigration control. Less immigrants making it safely across the highways with their children.

don't think it's a smooth move but we'll see how many collusions we can pile up until we need to narrow it back down to 65mph..

Also, the speed limit has been 80 on that toll road for quite sometime now, and there hasn't been a spike in accidents.

and a Toll booth every 3 miles.

I once drove from Rockford to Chicago on their toll road - so much for the thrill of going fast. That toll road to Chicago, everyone was going over 85mph, I was doing 83mph and was the slowest car on the road. You have no time to react at that speed...oops, there went my exit, now I get to drive an extra 5 miles. Want to look at something on the side of the road, forget about it. By the time I got to Chicago I think I spent $10 in tolls....what a joke.

We already got a stretch of state hwy from Falfurrias to Freer that is 75 MPH and it isn't even freeway.

That's one way of getting rid of Republicans

High speed doesn't cause accident. What causes accidents are untrained and inattentive drivers. When the aforementioned are combined with greater speed it does make a bigger crash but it wasn't speed that caused the accident.

If you truly want to cut down on accidents and increase safety then start fining people for eating/texting behind the wheel and not using signals, following proper lane protocal and watching their mirrors. That will never be done because those actions takes work, can't be done by a cop in a speed trap and those tickets don't generate as much revenue as a stupid 5mph over ticket. Until the highway patrol decides to get serious about safety instead of revenue generation we are stuck with insurance companies repeating the old lie that speed kills because it generates more revenue for the local government and the insurance companies can jack up your rates when you get busted for doing 75 in a 70mph zone.

I had an SCCA license and I felt safer on the track because I know my fellow racers are highly trained and everybody knows that seldom is it only one person gets hurt when somebody makes a mistake at 120mph than I do at 70mph on the freeway where 50% of the drivers are texting, playing with their Ipod or is half asleep because they feel too safe at 70mph.

@uaw-779887

Except it's by Austin where Texas keeps their liberals.

It's fine as long as there is little traffic, long sweeping turns, daylight with clear dry conditions. Otherwise your nuts!

uaw - It's God's place to judge, not liberals.

Face it. Despite all the disingenuous rhetoric from LEOs around the country, speed limits are MUCH LESS about safety, and MUCH MORE about protecting revenue stream. Ever have a cop pull you over and "claim" to have clocked you on radar, but refuse to show you any reading? They are empowered to make up whatever number they like and swear to it in court. In real life that's called perjury. In copspeak, it's called standard practice.

I'll be the judge of that

Eleven large western US States have had rural freeway speed limits at 75 mph for 17 years now, and none of those States are among the worst three States in traffic fatality rates despite several of them having urban areas among America's 20 largest, and very congested highways near those cities too.

North and south of Denver, an urban area of nearly 3 million people, I-25 is very crowded. It is 4 lanes per side from downtown to the US 36 junction, (plus a 2-lane reversible HOV and toll stretch), then 3 lanes per side all the way from there to the Co Rt 66 exit, 35 miles away, and all but 10 miles of that has a 75 mph speed limit even though traffic is heavy nearly all of the time. North of hwy 66 I-25 is only 2 lanes per side, as it splits several smaller urban areas, and it remains congested to the north side of Fort Collins, another 25 miles further from Denver. Currently there is a great deal of hope that I-25 will be widened to 3 lanes per side all the way to Ft. Collins and to 4 lanes per side south of Co Rt 7, plus another HOV/toll lane each way, to 22 miles north of downtown.

Just 70 miles south of downtown Denver lies the Colorado Springs metropolitan area, a city that has tripled in size since the mid-1980s to a regional population of close to 650,000 people. I-25 is 4 lanes per side from downtown Denver all the way to Castle Rock, more than 30 miles away, with almost half of that running 75 mph, and another third running at 65 mph. The stretch from Castle Rock to Monument is only 2-lanes per side, and it is very crowded, running at 75 mph, and then south of Monument all the way to Fountain the freeway is 3 lanes per side, with about half of that at 75 mph too. Forty miles south of Colorado Springs is Pueblo, another urban area of over 120,000 population, and I-25 runs at 75 mph that entire distance too.

I-25 from Ft. Collins to Pueblo is just as crowded as I-94 is from Port Huron to Jackson, MI through metro-Detroit, a similar distance with a similar demographic, (though Ann Arbor is nowhere near as large as Colorado Springs is, which in fact is larger than metropolitan Grand Rapids is). Nobody can say that the 165 miles of I-25 from Pueblo to Ft. Collins isn't heavily used, and some of it over design capacity, and yet the speed limit has been 75 mph on nearly 2/3rds of it for 17 years now, even for semis, and was 65 mph from 1989 to 1995 too.

One difference that makes our high-speed freeways safer in the western US is that our lane and shoulder widths, along with our fixed obstruction clearances, tend to be wider in the western US than comparable widths are in the eastern and midwestern US. We also have a much drier climate, which greatly reduces the need for concrete drainage and culvert abutments close to our highways too. Here we use a flush design for such abutments that do not present a safety hazard to traffic that leaves our highways at high speed. Furthermore, at 75 mph, following distances are much greater than are the same distances on slower speed freeways too. In my 30-year career driving semis I have seen hundreds of freeway accidents in the eastern US caused by following too closely in heavy traffic at speed too.

So, before anyone from the eastern or midwestern US heavily criticizes the 75% of Continental US States with speed limits of 70 mph or higher for being unsafe, perhaps you should know that the most-dangerous US States tend to be the 65-mph States in the eastern US, where those freeways are very congested, where following distances tend to be much closer and less-safe, and where fixed obstruction clearances, concrete drainage obstructions, and lane and shoulder widths also tend to be much less too.

Here in Colorado we don't allow trees within a certain fairly wide distance of our freeways either, and yet in the east, midwest, some States in the south, and also in the far-west, trees can be very close to high-speed highways too. Witness on US-101 along California's central coast, a high-speed freeway, that has gigantic ancient poplar trees with 5-6 ft diameter trunks, just 12 feet from the right southbound travel lane without any guardrail. You hit one of those at 70 mph, it isn't going to budge, and almost every one of several hundred such trees has been hit already too. The same thing is true on I-80 in Pennsylvania, or on I-90 or I-94 in Wisconsin or Michigan, (or in the entire northeastern US) where if you leave the road at high speed, dense mature forest or sometimes deep drainage ditches, are just 20-25 feet from the pavement.

Furthermore, before the Arab Oil Embargo in 1974, most of America had speed limits higher than 55 mph too. If we hadn't got caught illegally violating neutrality and resupplying Israel during their 1973 war with their Arab neighbors, the national 55 mph law that existed from 1974 through 1988 would not have happened, as we would not have had an oil shortage. Reductions in traffic fatalities since 1974 have been achieved through safer roadway design and through safer vehicle design too. Before 1971 there were no air-bags in cars, which then were only on a test fleet of 1500 cars. Auto air bags for general use did not start until 20 years ago, and cars so equipped have seen a great reduction in fatalities and in serious injuries too. New car crush designs that maintain the integrity of the passenger cabin have also saved a lot of lives too.

You want to drive at high speed safely? Maintain at least 2-3 seconds of following distance, keep your eyes on the job ahead, instead of on the scenery, don't text, watch at least 1/4 mile ahead for any potential conflicts, do not linger next to semis or buses, and give semis, buses, and other large trucks at least 200 feet of overtaking clearance too. In fact, if the minimum safe following distance is 2 seconds, at 75 mph, your legal minimum safe following distance is over 200 feet, so your overtaking clearance should also be the same too. Another thing to remember is to ascertain the speed of passing lane traffic before entering the passing lane, so that you don't cause an accident there, and the law in all 50 States is "Slower Traffic Keep Right", unless a State has passed the more-restrictive law, "Keep Right Except to Pass", which in either case can be enforced as a 2 or 3-point traffic ticket if a State so chooses. Forcing high-speed traffic to pass on your right is more-dangerous than is yielding the passing lane to passing traffic. Remember that it isn't your job to play pace car, it is your job to follow all traffic laws, including passing lane laws, and if someone else wants to break those laws, it is the job of law enforcement to deal with violators. You can be ticketed for obstructing faster traffic if you fail to maintain speed in the far left lane too.

Has anyone else noticed how enforcement levels tend to rise greatly during recessions? How about States that let minor political jurisdictions to enforce traffic law on the very short stretches of freeway within their jurisdiction? A good example is Linndale, OH, southwest of Cleveland on I-71, where their town cop has to sit on the left shoulder southbound because the right shoulder is in another city, and in fact the entire square area that he has to sit on is only a few car-lengths long? Did you know that over 90% of Linndale's municipal budget comes from traffic fines, and that almost all of that comes from nailing non-residents on I-71? Should that be legal, or does such a policy just encourage citizen hatred of law-enforcement as well as radar detector sales? How about only allowing the State Patrol to enforce traffic laws on freeways, so that little speed-trap towns go the way of old mining towns when the ore plays-out? How about all States adopting a 5-mph tolerance law, like a several States have already, and several more have similar unofficial policies too? Driving like cattle, all at the same slower speed, makes changing lanes much more difficult and less-safe too.

Just so that you know if you ever get through there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linndale,_Ohio

The story says that Linndale has a whole 422 yards of I-71, but that figure can only be had on the northbound right shoulder, as the southbound right shoulder is not in Linndale, only the southbound left shoulder is, and only for a short distance too.

Yes, I'll agree that much of traffic law enforcement is mainly designed to enhance revenue, and is much less about safety, as you can drive 75 mph in fairly heavy traffic safely as long as you pay close attention and follow some simple safety rules. You also have to know what to do in the event of a blowout or a breakdown at speed, and in the event of a blowout DO NOT slam on the brakes as you make your way to the shoulder. It is quite safe to drive on the flat or even on the rim until you can safely get your vehicle out of the traffic flow. If you break down and your engine dies, put your 4-ways on (you may have to shift to neutral to keep rolling) and try to get to a shoulder, remembering that some freeways don't have left shoulders, and that without the engine, steering and braking will be more-difficult too, though not so difficult that two adult hands can't do it either. In some cases you may have to use your parking brake as an aid to stop too. If your accelerator sticks, turn your key back a single click, which will still allow steering, shift to neutral, and head for the shoulder. If traffic is light-enough, you might head to the shoulder under-power before turning the key off too.

The biggest impediment to safe higher-speed freeway travel is safe roadway design, and the 2nd biggest problem is failure to closely adhere to simple safety rules as well as to passing lane and following distance or overtaking clearance laws. A little extra courtesy wouldn't hurt anyone either.

I fully expect that this new stretch of highway in Texas will still be safer at 85 mph than much of the northeastern US is now at 65 mph, and all of the concern over western US speed limits could be better-spent on improving roadway design safety hazards in the States that have failed to do so, some of them for half a century now. If all freeways had minimum 12-foot lanes, 10-foot paved shoulders on both sides of the road, flush culverts, bridge shoulders as wide as roadway shoulders, and no fixed obstructions or trees within a minimum of 50 feet of high-speed traffic, our highways could be a lot safer and tolerate higher speeds safely. Another way to reduce injuries and fatalities from vehicles leaving high-speed roadways at high speed would be to lay beds of pea gravel along freeways, though a tow truck would be needed to get vehicles out too.

Any State that continues to ignore roadway design safety hazard mitigation, while trying to steal as much of their travelers money for alleged personal safety violations, is a State that is both unfriendly to business growth, as well as largely-responsible for the many deaths and injuries caused by maintaining unsafe highway designs. If you want safer highways, you have to design and build safer highways, and that is what Texas has done.

Old timer either get a publisher for you book or learn to summarize nobody has the time or patience to read that much of your spew!

Anyone that would call that stretch of road desolate is totally ignorant, it runs through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere. Run for your life, a response like that can only come from a liberal mindset...never mind the facts, I am too important to read them.

Texas a common sense state, wish I lived there.

Republic of Texas, the greatest nation on Earth!

Republic of Texas, the greatest nation on Earth!

Ahh yes, Texas where the Department of Education re-writes American history to suit themselves.

Great place to drive fast, but the coming generations won't be able to read the exit signs.

To save energy and resources for America; all speed limits need to be 55. The fuel consumption will be greatly reduced. However if you want speed don't have any speed limits anywhere and let people take their chances.

Based on how often there is a wreck between Dallas and Austin on I35, the part from from Austion to San Antonio will be a parking lot half the time anyway.

Time to service up the old corvette...!!

Howy61 is right. I drive from Houston to Austin or San An fairly regularly for work and family, and up to Dallas a few times of year,too. The number/regularity of accidents on those roads usually makes speed limits ridiculous.

That being said... on days there aren't accidents... I am really looking forward to this. 85 seems right around the normal speed for many drivers on this stretch when its empty anyway. I do wish the same limit would be put on the stretch of 10 from outside West Houston (past Katy) to San An city limits.

CatInahat:

I-10 from just outside Katy all the way to San Antonio is 75 now. :)

How much extra gas will vehicles use versus if they were to go 55? How about reduction in stopping distance? How much of a reduction in the amount of energy a standard weight vehicle has since force or inertia is equal to mass times velocity squared. The bigger and heavier a vehicle is the more energy it has at the same speed. Meaning other cars have to be built stronger and heavier to withstand an impact from an SUV or truck going over 80 MPH. Cars could be made cheaper and more fuel efficient, but people still think bigger is better (I know it is Texas and ignorance runs deep). How many terrorists do republicans support with all the gas they use?

I used to "love" to drive fast, but it is just not worth it. When I was growing up the roads were not as packed as they are today where I live. To drive fast now in most places requires lots of lane changes, and does not save you that much time unless you are driving for an hour or so. The amount of wear and tear on your vehicle is not good either not to mention the extra gas. It is a red light why are you waiting until the last second to nail your brakes? Where the F*** are you going to go? Not being in such a rush really helps out my road rage. Why must we play chicken with 2 and 4 ton autos at 80+ MPH again? Can we use up the remaining gas reserves any faster while we are at it too?

Bad (Classical) Physics---F=ma, rho(momentum)=mv, & KE=1/2mv^2

Lots of people. They just don't leave it in first for long.

Vern I was thinking the same thing. I ride an 05 R1 and if I'm not doing at least 100 I feel like I'm just putting around. Here in AZ it's mostly flat straight road and i run around 110 to 120 on all of our freeways, and that's when I'm in the mood to Cruz otherwise it's even faster lol. For all those who have an issue with my speed, it really doesn't matter because I'm there and gone before they can even react.

I don't have an issue with your speed. The first time you wipe out, lay it down, or someone pulls out in front of you will be you last. Why would I have an issue with your speed? 'You're the 'dead man riding...' Its your life...

32, sounds like you're talking about the Harley fags.

I've been riding for over 40 years, and like Gun owner above you, my current 40 mpg commuter will do well over 100 mph in first gear. I've been over 200 mph on the big bike (the Hayabusa), and speed is relative- there are some airplanes faster than my motorcycle.

An actual rider, wearing actual safety gear, on an actual motorcycle, is much safer doing a 120 mph second-gear stand-up wheelie on an open stretch of freeway, than some drunk dentist or tax attorney wobbling down the road at 15 mph under the limit, on his way too or from the Blue Oyster gay biker bar in his Village People Costume.

Because we know how to do three things they don't- stop, go, and turn.

The real thing most goofballs have a problem with is FREEDOM OF ANYKIND!

32 maniac as long as you stay in your freaking lane and off the freaking phone I won't have any problem going 80MPH on a 600 shadow. I can ride it like I stole it. And I'm 65 with better than 60,000 miles under my butt from Brownsville to I 90 in Minnesota.

I have yet to see a Texan that can drive right, especially out of state. Seems like every time I get cut off, bullied in traffic, or see someone doing something stupid while driving, there's a Texas lisence plate on the vehicle. It used to be that the Californians were bad, but I don't see them doing the stupid crap Texans do.

I was in Tennessee once, sitting in a traffic jam, when some nut comes driving down the breakdown lane, waving cordially at all the people stuck in traffic... yep, it was a Texan.

@Gun Owner 2121247, You and I are obviously not driving the same parts of Arizona. I-17 from Flag to Phx is pretty harrowing at parts going 75 or more. The switchbacks around Bumblebee especially!

In texas you don't have to have insurance if you can prove financial ability to pay for an accident

Cat. You get your car impounded for no insurance in DFW. Perform some due diligence (homework for grown-ups) before typing. It prevents the interwebs from pegging you as stupid.

damagecrab,

Cat is right, I have heard of that before. In Texas if you are sufficiently wealthy, you can post a bond with the State ( I can't remember the current amount required ), and use that in lieu of insurance. I think the state gives you some sort of paper indicating that you have done this and use that as proof of insurance.

However, doing this route is about the dumbest idea ever. Without insurance, anything that the bond doesn't cover you are still responsible for. Without the protection of an insurance policy you are now personally liable to civil law suits for damages.

In allot of states if you have the money you don't need insurance you bond yourself.
If the minimum requirement for the state is $25,000.00 then you bond yourself with your own money and you do not have to have insurance

damagecrab reading level over 5th grade please. Proof of financial responsibility is filed with the state just like insurance except you don't make payments. It is like a bond.

Just what I need to deal with, a bunch of idiots driving around like they think they're on a race track without insurance while I take the responsibility and have full coverage on my car.

And this will weed them out. Just have a fire extinguisher handy. There was a small economy car made several years back and if you drove it too fast for too long the engine would seize.

Then get off the road

Tires are where I would worry. A lot of standard tires just aren't rated for continuous operation at those speeds, especially the high efficiency tires found on lots of compacts and hybrids. Don't know how I'd feel about having a blowout at 85 or (lets be honest here) 95 MPH, that actually sounds a bit terrifying to me.

...especially the high efficiency tires found on lots of compacts and hybrids.

In Texas???

Off road tires are rated safe up to 75mph. Spare "donuts" are rated up to 81mph. Every other tire is rated up to 87mph and up.

So virtually every tire sold in America should be OK.

85 is the limit. You don't have to go that fast. Just stay in the right lane. That's the key. A person should drive with whatever speed they are comfortable.

Spare "donuts" are rated up to 81mph.

Who told you those cheesy little spare tires are rated for 81 MPH? It states right on it that it's not meant for highway travel. Let alone exceeding 50+ MPH.

You better get a better source for your information, because your current one is wrong.

Hopefully the others that voted you up don't try to go 80 if they are currently using a "donut" tire due to your inaccurate information about them.

Who said you had to go 85 mph constantly? There's a reason why there's multiple lanes.

Liberal Libertarian,

While they should drive at a speed at which they feel comfortable, there should be a limit as to how slow they can travel. You cannot have 85 75 65+mph traffic and then have someone even in the far right lane doing 50mph, others moving at 70 etc will be forced to change lanes and then the domino affect takes place. Slow drivers on a freeway are dangerous to those traveling at or over the speed limit...especially if the slow ones are in the left hand travel lane acting as if they are the official pace car. In my opinion if the limit is 85, there should be no one traveling less than 75mph!!

Most doughnut tires are rated for 50 miles of use at 40 mph. Just enough to get you to a tire store from the highway.

What some people don't realize is that tire diameter is obviously smaller on the donut tire. If the tire is half the size of your normal tire (just for easy comparison) the regular tire may be rotating at eighty five mph ,but the donut is doing one hundred and sixty. Kinda makes ya think,I hope!

What we found in NC was when they raised the limit on I-40 from 65 to 70 that the maximum of the normal drivers did not change much, but the minimum of the normal drivers increased. In other words, fewer cars in the left lane going 60, but not many more cars in either lane going 80. The deviation between the speeds of the cars decreased, because the speed limit was closer to the driving speed of the average driver. Of course, the increase also included a bonus penalty for speeding above 70... If they do something similar there (increase speed limit to 85, automatic reckless driving for ticket over 90 or something similar), you decrease the disparity between driving speeds and decrease the minor accidents. Also, if you shorten a long, boring drive, you decrease the odds that someone's going to "just send a quick text".

Sorry,I meant one hundred and seventy!!!!

Has anyone considered mechanical failure? Such as brake failure, blown tires, wheel barings, ie ect. Weather factors. It's pouring down rain "few drivers" realize you can not exceed a mph of 45 to 50 mph and maintain control of your vehicle. You can not control your vehicle when you are hydroplaning! The amount of idiots I have seen slam their brakes and wreck is countless. How about a semi-truck traveling at 85mph? I'm afraid of them traveling at 65, let alone 85. They can not stop on a dime, it's hardly the same thing as stopping a car. Another true concern, police attempting to chase down a "speeder" and having to stand along side of that highway.

Someone already made a good point; simply because the speed limit says 85mph it really means lets push the limits of 90+. Texans are really going to blow their tops when insurance rates go through the roof due to an increase in accidents. Simply because you have no tickets does not always determine how much you pay. Good luck with that.

Not one person flaunting the death sentence nor making money off of the so-called pre-established studies cares.
Mexican drivers do not have to maintain anything, nor do they have to have insurance); nor required pre-training; nothing. That is how a USA driver cannot compete...And Mexican trucks are larger. There has been a serial killer on I45 for years...the one item focused on is a Mexican driver...women are the raped, mulitated targets along with young females..
All are welcomed just switch Mexican to USA plates Texas etc all 50 and come on right in: pay nothing.
BUt dare ye as a USA Citizens fill out the form to enter MEXICO: you pay over $500 and you life and all you were stupid enough to have upon entering Mexico.
SOLD out...NAFTA was to erase the US-Mex borders CLINTONISTAS and BU@!$%#es CARTER peanut parity man, too. and now the Kenyan god King all coward puppets for NWO...the PLAN is working except for a few dedicated Patriots who put out the facts and stand up against pure EVIL and TRAITORS WITHIN ...even your Pres VP and those who voted against making ENGLISH our official language like Biden when Senator and the DEMS Dial#2 for Spanish until the Communist Chinese takeover..or the PLAGUE ILLEGALS with their trained JIHADIST at Homeland Insecurity with Los Zetas are requested for "civil unrest " by the Muslim god king in the White House!

Nibby bitty you better stay in your nanny state. Texas isn't the place for you. This is the kind of place people go surfing the ship channels when the hurricanes are coming in. We eat things like rattle snake tacos. You just don't belong here you wouldn't be happy and we wouldn't be happy having to listen to you daily.

Nibby bitty is right you fake "macho douche" who talks out of their no-brain butt. Glad I don't live in that cesspool of all oil rigs, barely any clean water, among the lowest rated public schools. highest in nation for people w/o health insurance and minimum wage jobs. Thanks to idiot Scott Walker, Wisconsin is doing their best to catch up with you in those areas. Enjoy your rattle snake tacos and surfing in hurricanes. Stupidity is your choice. Just don't make MY taxes go up because of it. Sick of paying for your disasters when you all scream about how useless & rotten the federal governemnt is but can't wait for your hand-out when the hurricanes, widlfires, droughts and another oil refinery blows up, a bunch of people are killed and you all have a mess on your hands. Where is your "rugged individualism cowboy don't mess with TX" attitude then?
As Curly said to Billy Crystal on that dude ranch: " I CRAP bigger than you lonereb".Please, just SECEDE already.

@teresa van remortel......your ignorance is showing and the things you've written reveal how degenerate, dispicable, vile, and sordid you really are. I hope you're happy because, tipically someone who thinks like you hasn't any friends or much of a life to speak of.

I thought Montana had no speed limit on some of its rural highways, or is that just an urban legend?

Montana's "NO SPEED LIMIT" was actualy called "Reasonable and Prudent." It didn't last very long, sadly. Passing State Troopers on I-94 at 100 mph was pretty damn fun.

@MoeZilla78

California still has what they call the Basic Speed Limit, which states that drivers should drive at a speed safe for the roadway width, surface conditions, time of day, and weather conditions.

There are sections of Hwy 99 in California which aren't even posted, as well as ag roads everywhere which have no maximum speed limits... This whole slow is safe is a bunch of hooey. slow drivers in left lanes are the cause of more accidents merely because of the obstacle they present...

Man they have been running 85 or better on I-10 for along time..!!

Take a run between Phoenix and San Antonio, the big rigs are doing that..

Very true Guy. The I-10 between Phoenix to El Paso feels limitless (both in speed and time it takes to travel) and from El Paso to San An feels the same way.

too bad i never use that highway! anyway, if it's your day to die, it doesn't matter if you are going 75 (the current speed limit on most texas highways) or 85. you're still going to die. and i think the slow drivers cause more trouble because they cause people to have to change lanes to go around them. and i'm pretty sure most roads in texas are two lane highways so you have to pull into oncoming traffic to pass the person who can't even get to 75 mph!

i agree about the elderly people. a lot of them need to quit driving. they are more dangerous than the teens. but i think they should have to take a driving test. honestly some old people (like my dad) drive the speed limit and don't take unnecessary risks. i live in a retirement town in west texas and i go insane when some old person (and it's always an old person) who has to come to a complete stop on the highway to turn onto a parking lot!

They are setting the speed limit that high to encourage more people to use the privatized tollway and thus generate more profits for the owner/operator over in Spain!

This has nothing to do with the actual safe speed along this stretch of road. Please see the articles from this weekend in the Austin American Statesman on the subject. (they are available free online)

Once from San Francisco to Denver with a stop over for dinner, and gas along the way and a few beers in New Mexico to Denver in 21 hours, what was that speed limit? Had to get back to Denver for the Bronco Game.

US 77/83 coming out of Brownsville speed limit 65. right lane is doing speed limit, center lane is passing that at about 75, far left lane is passing that at about 85 now.

My '79 Harley sees 90 on the way to work and back.

Sure, it's called the right lane.

Hogs aren't allowed on our toll roads. Since they don't have axles connecting multiple wheels, the idiots running the toll authority can't figure out what toll motorcycles should pay. After all, the Republican legislators that wrote the bill authorizing the privatized takeover of our highway system wrote it that tolls had to be based on number of axles.

Can't afford one, huh Vern?

Vern, my harley could out do most cop cycles, you driving a scooter?

SSwanner, I got a flash for you- EVERYBODY see's your 90-weight oil leaking out of your lawn tractor.

Or maybe you were referring to your speed. 90 kilometers per hour is almost 56 mph. You're gonna be holding up a lot of traffic with that thing.

Lol, Ben.

The latest round of police vehicle testing by the Michigan State Police says the asthmatic 850 pound Harley Davidson Police Electra Glide took 24.94 seconds to reach 100 mph. That's like watching dew form.

The Kawasaki Police Concours easily hit 100 mph in 9.70 seconds.

My 600 Shadow VLX will do 85 anytime I want it to.Heck I got 82 out of a 250 Rebel trying to pass a truck back ten years ago. Not the California model. California models suck. And I just spent a Saturday riding it like I stole it on back roads with Harleys. Police bikes are heavier with all the extra radios and the extra battery and lights. Most Harley riders I know don't ride models that heavy. And I know one guy from Cut and Shoot that can do wheelies on a Road King. A lot of it has to do with the rider and what he/she wants to do at the moment.

Wait until these people are driving DRUNK. Whoa-a-a Nellie!!!!!!

Teresa, lead, follow or get out of the way and leave the driving to us! I wish they posted 85mph in California to make up for the times when we drive at 10mph for an hour on the 405FWY...

I ride when i have too . At 85 mph hitting a armadillo could definitely ruin your day on two wheels.

My '67 900 cc Sportster was doing 100mph with someone on the back in 1970 while most imports were still trying to figure out how to make a bike over 250cc!

I thought the speed limit on interstates was 85 already, that's what people drive!

People who shouldnt be driving in the first place kill

you obviously didn't think that through. you can not do all of the above and still not be safe. there are other drivers around you who will be doing them.

Speed doesnt kill nearly as much as differences in speed. I've been on the autobahn. Its the harmony, stupid.

peanut, you haven't been on the autobahn.

Elderly drivers kill. A lot.

HATR, that's perfect. I love the pathetic excuse "slow people in the fast lanes cause accidents". The max speed for the fast lane is the posted speed limit. And, rightfully so - if you can't slow down enough for someone driving 30 in a 65, you're the idiot who's either driving too fast or isn't paying attention. You should be able to slow from 100-30 and still keep a safe distance when you're not trying to read your phone through the glare of the sun or when you're not distracted by other simple things you shouldn't be paying attention to.

Idiot on a motorcycle lived and died by that excuse here a couple years ago. There were many "challenged folks" who blamed the driver of the nice, new SUV he slammed into when it slowed due to losing power to the engine. Luckily for the innocent driver of the SUV, intelligent people know that 99.9% of non head-on collisions can, and should be blamed on the person whose front bumper strikes the car in front of it.

Once got a ticket in my Vette for doing a 170 mph, had to wait for the cop for 5 minutes while stopped, asked me how fast I was going, told him, asked if I had been drinking? Told him it was bowling night and had a few beers. Liked that I was honest, gave me a ticket for 79 in a 70 and wished me well.

[Hervé Villechaize] Look, boss! De plane! De plane! [/Hervé Villechaize]

Lol, Ben.

I have driven on the autobahn 230 kph (about 138mph) with no issues. The autobahn is
no better than allot of the highways in the USA the difference is the rules and
that the people over there know them and follow them. We have most of the same
rules here in the USA but the law does not enforce them so no one follows them.
One rule is slower traffic keep right overseas this is enforced in the USA it
is not that causes allot of issues on the highways. Using turn signals to
change lanes everyone on the autobahn uses them and you will get a ticket if
you don’t at least where I was driving. So there is allot more to being safe on
the highway than slower speed if you fix the real cause of the accidents and
don’t just put a bandage on it then speed becomes less a factor

I have also driven on the Autobahn. It is an amazing experience. People drive with respect. We didn't see one accident, we didn't see any near accidents, we didn't see any nonsense. People drove following the rules. Using their turn signals, slower drivers in the right lanes, and faster drivers in the left. And you moved out of the way when someone was coming up on you from behind. I did about 200 mph (125mph) and like someone else stated above, it isn't the high speeds, it's the differences in speeds that causes problems. There is definitely a different kind of harmony driving in Europe. And with the exception to the autobahn in Germany, the speed limits really aren't any different than what we have here. The roads aren't any better, some are and some aren't.

So you think raising the speed limit to 85 mph is going to magically get RID of all the drivers who do those things at the current limits then you've got rocks in your head. This is throwing gasoline on a FIRE!!

teresa, you have an interesting avatar, are you by any chance driving a Prius?

+1

If you're a pure Texan, that would make you a Mexican.

How's that Weed-head JohnB? If you are thinking what I believe you you are thinking, then it would make him a Spaniard, fool. Texas was part of New Spain long before it was part of Mexico. Another fool-idiot ¿American? who does not know his own country's history.

I grew up in New Mexico & rode motorcycles from the age of 10. I got my auto license at 15. I always drove between 85 & 120 on the open highway. I believe 85-95 mph is the natural, comfortable, safe speed to drive in the Western USA or in Europe on their autoroutes where you can see far & there are not many entrances or exits. Radar studies have shown in Germany where they have NO SPEED LIMITS on the Autobahn that most people still drive an average of 88 mph. It is a very natural speed to drive on the open road, especially in today's improved, more safely engineered vehicles.

If the speed limit was 55 you would still have that problem

So maybe we should put giant orange triangles on the back of all the Harley Davidsons.

Its a very common accident in New Jersey due to all the hilly terrain & folks that have high performance vehicles & needing to feel good about themselves. Sometimes the safe drivers cant get out of the way quick enough.

That's what happens when you set unrealistic limits.

I could never drive at 85. My little 4-banger would probably explode. I have never driven over 75 in my entire 72 years.

Its still a limit, not a challenge. Stay in the right lane and all is well.

Hmm... that's why you have to pay attention when you drive.

I like Joe. He makes sense. If you can't see far enough ahead to react to an object (like a car-sized truck tire moving 0 mph in the middle of a lane), then you're exceeding a safe speed for the road conditions. Use some common sense.

Thankfully this stretch of road is pretty flat.

Hey all you JERKS saying that people traveling at the speed limit need to be in the right lane, YOU JERKS need to slow down and do the legal speed limit at least until you pass the slower cars!!! I'm tired of these same JERKS going 90-100 not actually giving somebody like me ,who is going at about the speed limit, enough time to get over! I can't tell you how many times I've seen these speed demons coming up behind me and when I try to pull over to the slow lane so they can pass, these JERKS get over in the right lane before I can safely complete the switch. JERKS learn how to drive! If you are coming into traffic SLOW DOWN and give the slower traffic a chance to change into the slower lane. Now I know there are stupid people out there who travel in the fast lane who need to get over and won't even after you've been on their tail for the last few miles, if you're one of those JERKS GET OVER YOURSELF and PULL TO THE RIGHT LANE FOR SLOWER TRAFFIC!

^ P u s s y

Go ahead and say what you will but if you don't change your asinine driving habits you'll be the one 6ft under! Not me! STUPID JERK!

Speed limit enforced by physics. ;)

You say needs like only Texans have trucks... The F-150 alone is the top vehicle in 23 states and a truck of some other maker is in the top three of 15-20 more states. The fact of the matter is tucks are an American vehicle... Not to mention new F-150s and other trucks easily hit these speeds...

That's fricken stupid!! The commercial trucks will stay the same but our taxes will go up $500.00 Not only that, but those dummies that "squeeze" in between trucks to get around that have no patience are going to cause more accidents. And don't tell me you don't do that. Texas drivers wouldn't be right behind California if they drove "safer"

And they tend to not have cup holders in the front seats. Dont even get me started about cell phones and "car food."

Doesn't Germany also have the strictest vehicle inspections? If your car isn't 100% top shape you don't even get ON the autobahn.

Most of europe has something like England's "MOT" every two years, which is so complete that people have actually had to have perfectly good old cars crushed because a tail light lens was cracked and no new lens had been available for years. Every mechanical and visual part of the car must be perfectly operational as intended - no "jury-riggin" - and certainly no rolling wrecks like we have here in GA where there is no inspection of any kind (safety, emissions, tires, NO inspection at all) outside of the Atlanta Metro area. Broken windshield, taped tailight, bald tires, mis-aimed headlights, leaking brakes; its all up to the owner to find and fix, or just drive it 'til it disintegrates in front of a policeman.

Yes they do, Robert Duckworth. It isn't that you don't get on the autobahn, you don't get on the road. Any road. If you take a vehicle in to a repair shop for, say, a new fuel pump and the mechanic sees that your vehicle is out of compliance in any way (tire depth, sidewall cuts, headlamp out, etc.) they must, by law, refuse to release your vehicle to you until the repairs are made. Rust spots cannot be bigger across than a dime, no cracks in ANY window or mirror. Condition laws are really enforced. It's really stict and they make sure you're in compliance. Fair, but tough. If your insurance for example, is cancelled by either your or your carrier, the police come by and boot your car...having insurance is the law and they enforce the law. No insurance, no drive. Vehicles are generally in much, much better condition overall than they are here in the States. They have to be. The autobahn actually HAS speed limits - it isn't a racetrack. If you're going to drive you have to be in compliance with the law. Driving laws in Germany are the same all over (Germany is about the size of Oregon) and they don't vary by state.

I take it you've never driven there.

Good for you James and well put. I drive an hour each way and go 77 mph (in a 70 zone) and the police don't even look twice. When a faster vehicle comes from behind, I move to the right which is the law as well as common courtesy. Sometimes everybody is moving at 85. I either lead, follow, or get out of the way. My least favorite driver is slow, sloppy, oblivious and in the left lane. Cars and tires and super-highways are better now than they have ever been. 85 should be no problem.

Remember folks, keep a safe distance (2-3 seconds), be aware of all vehicles ahead, behind, and beside, slower traffic keep to the right, pass on the left, signal your intentions.

Thanks Hank. I thought so. I'm not game on this 85mph speed. You're going to get trucks with fifteen field workers going 95 to get to a job. Instant diasaster if a tire blows.

@ James. Absolutely! The average american DL holder could not pass a german dl exam or driving test. Also they do not allow cellphones or eating & drinking for the driver. Fines are very simple, get caught, lose your license for a specified time depending how serious the offence is. To get the license back you must go back to school and do it all over. Takes about a month and a LOT of money and of course time away from your job.

The German way should be implemented here and I guarantee you that there will be lots fewer people on the road causing accidents.

Dont even get me started about cell phones and "car food."

Don't worry, I leave the cup in the holder and the fries in the bag whilst travelling at 140mph.

Before anyone else goes on about the German driver being so great, Germany doesn't have half of the vehicles that the US has. They don't have the millions of miles of highway that we do. Less drivers, less vehicles = less accidents.

FireChief, at least they require that you take a test over in Germany. Here in Texas, to save on the budget, the legislature (R) passed a law a few years back that so long as you took a Driver's Education course that included actual behind-the-wheel instruction, you didn't have to take the driving portion of the test to get your license. The thing is, the courses only provide about 4 hours of actual time behind the wheel.

Back before the law was passed, I knew several kids who took the classes and then had to take the driver's test 3 or more times before they passed.

They wonder why our teenagers are such terrible drivers, and now they're giving them a racetrack out in the middle of nowhere (the tollroad) to test out their driving prowess.

Uhhhhh Rayko...... they are also a smaller land mass. So what is your point? Less drivers and less vehicles of course may equal less accidents. But your comment isn't valid, or factual. It's ridiculous.

Of course if we had to have the same requirements on our cars or the same skills in order to pass a test to get or keep our driver licenses required by OUR government all you conservatives would be screaming "big government controlling your FREEDOM" so I don't want to hear it.

"And they tend to not have cup holders in the front seats. Dont even get me started about cell phones and "car food."

You're right, my Porsche doesn't have these things. But it does have ashtrays. Nothing like cruising the autobahn at 140+ with a nicotine buzz....

follow the rules of the road? yeah, tell that to the 17 year old girls who are texting instead of even watching the road.

Their driver training is more like our PILOT training. Most of their traffic laws boil down to "You're not the pace car. Dont be an a$$hole."

These posters are correct - the quality of the driver is the key. In Italy (where we live in summer) the limit is 83 mph, which is also about the limit for the little 3-cyl. Chevrolet you see me standing beside. But in the left lane, the big cars (BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc) are running 100+ and you are trained to stay out of that lane, be alert for a passing signal (flashed high-beams) behind you, and generally treat high speed driving as the 'adventure' that it used to be, and not an opportunity to chat on the phone (illegal), eat a burger (unheard of there), or park yourself in whatever lane you chose on cruise control (which was almost unknown in Italy on any car until the past year) and zombie-out.

And BTW, there is a mandatory training program (run by a Mafia controlled company and VERY expensive) that everyone has to take, even to get a replacement license (which is a lifetime license and will cost nearly $1,000 and 6 months to replace). But it is a complete program.

That is false. Autobahn has a basic speed speed law of 130 km/h (~80 MPH). You can exceed it if conditions permit, but if you have an accident, you're automatically at fault.

Furthermore, there are very few place that you can attain that speed simply because of traffic and weather.

In US, you can travel for an entire day at 80+MPH on a freeway which makes autobahn slow in comparison.

Fred - I don't zone out on cruise control, I use it to increase my fuel efficiency when I drive 75 :p

As long as the road you are on is fairly level cruise control can be a fuel saver. In hilly country, though, cruise can waste more gas than controlling speed manually.

Same in the Bay Area.

No it doesn't.

For the short time Nevada and Montana had no speed limits on rural interstate a majority of drivers drove between 75 and 85 miles per hour. Under ten percent of drivers exceeded 90 miles per hour. I would not be a bit surprised to see that being the case with this new toll road.

The ten-mile-over rule does not apply in all circumstances. When given an unbridled choice the vast majority of drivers will drive at a speed at which they feel comfortable. In the minority are those who are pedal-to-the-medal all the way and those who are convinced that slower is safer (in some cases without regard to the circumstances).

Just don't do it in Pennsylvania. Their signs are intended to be taken quite litterally. A couple weeks ago I was coming down a mountain and drove my wife and I into a ravine that was supposed to be a "bump" at about 60mph. You can normally get away with +15mph over the posted corner caution signs, do that in PA and you'll be thru a guardrail!

And the pledge of allegiance is just a suggestion too? The laws that govern the road and drivers came from the Constitution of the state, which was birthed from the constitution of the United States of America. Piss on the Speed limit is pissing on the Constitution and the Flag.

LMAO, are you serious? Did you really just say that everyone going over the posted speed limit (which I'm sure you NEVER do) is pissing on the constitution and the flag? Holy crap, and I thought the "don't waste our gas" guy was a lil over the top...

Just don't do it in Pennsylvania. Their signs are intended to be taken quite litterally. A couple weeks ago I was coming down a mountain and drove my wife and I into a ravine that was supposed to be a "bump" at about 60mph. You can normally get away with +15mph over the posted corner caution signs, do that in PA and you'll be thru a guardrail!

@gone4now you also wouldn't want to try that trick in WV we have curves on the interstate that you have to take at 60 mph (well those who don't know how to handle them anyway) BTW I challenge any one posting here to a driving challenge to see how fast you can go on some of the curvy back roads in my state you'll either end up falling off a cliff or ramming into a hill. I doubt any of you could take them even at 30 mph and certainly not 55 mph!!! (normal speed limits on the back roads)

At 55, the bigger risk is falling asleep and running off the road.

The fun part of all this is that the tollroad we are talking about was meant to get the trucks off of I-35 through Austin. But they set the tolls so high that there are almost no trucks on the road, and the road actually passes so far east of the Austin Metro are that it's inconvenient for your everyday commuter. So they spent Billions on this tollway to nowhere that almost no one uses.

BTW, there's no way to pay the toll on this road, unless you have the prepaid tag affixed to your vehicle. You can just breeze through the toll areas and let them total up what you owe, at a higher rate for not having a tag, and with an additional 25% service fee for mailing you the bill. Then you can be like most of the other drivers who choose this option and just not pay the bill. Don't worry, they won't come after you for it.

The I-35 from Dallas to San Antonio is always too full of slow drivers in the fast lane. I hate that drive!!! The 18 wheelers take forever to pass their slower, and probably heaver loaded buddies. The I-10 drive from El Paso to San Antonio is easy at 85 mph, but again the big rigs that take forever to pass their buddies are the most dangerious element in driving fast in that part of the state.

if you don't live "northern" then shut your pie hole. also, you might try visiting a few states before you make dumb comments about being crowded up and assuming that's why people have a problem with the speed.

@HATR I guess my post struck a nerve. You assume I haven't been to any other states. We all know what happens when YOU assume.

i assumed it cause your post didn't sound like one from a person who had ANY knowledge of other states. i gave you the benefit of the doubt of being ignorant rather than dumb. my bad.

by the way, your post was obviously meant to strike a nerve or you wouldn't have started with the shut your pie hole comment.

The faster a car goes, the longer it takes to stop; the driver can't react fast
enough to a sudden situation and ends up as roadkill. At those speeds there are
many many Texans who are so dumb that they think nothing about drinking and driving

at those speeds or talk on the cell or text. Some say they can drive ok at those speeds because Texas
is a wide open space and places are far apart. The space and distance that the
other drivers have to worry about is the wide open empty space between the drunken
Texas driver’s ears.

Do people not drink and drive in your state? Not every person drinks and drives in Texas. If everyone is going the same speed then they will all take relative to the size of the vehicle longer to stop so everyone is stopping longer. No problem here. If your afraid to drive in Texas, don't go there. No problem at all.

People in TX think they're all special and we owe them a living.

All cow no brain. Some in tx will get there 10 minutes sooner, some will get there dead. No biggie.