The areas that have 85 mph speed limits don't have rush hour traffic. They don't have a lot of traffic at any time. One these desolate areas of the country everyone will go pretty dang close to the speed limit just to be able to get somewhere.
The areas that have 85 mph speed limits don't have rush hour traffic. They don't have a lot of traffic at any time. One these desolate areas of the country everyone will go pretty dang close to the speed limit just to be able to get somewhere.
Datsun310Guy wrote: I just drove from Chicago to Detroit and back on Wednesday and easily drove 79-85mph thru Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. On I80 in Illinois; I80 means 80mph.
That explains I-96.
I commute between Grand Rapids and Lansing twice a week on I96. 85 is nothing.
You all are missing one fact that I noticed in other info about the road in question. It is a toll road. I think that will maybe keep the slower traffic off of it.
JoeyM wrote: Texas to open 85 mph toll highway http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/06/13705669-85-mph-texas-to-open-toll-highway-with-fastest-speed-limit-in-nation?lite
I did mention that in the OP
BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY ROAD WITH THAT SPEED LIMIT!
That's just the only toll road with that speed limit.
Jay wrote: Here in Ontario where the limits are, in my opinion, dangerously under-posted at 100 km/h (60 mph!) you get a *huge* variation in speed. You'll be keeping up with traffic at a reasonably sensible 130 (80 mph), yuppies in a hurry will be passing you (safely) at 140-150 and then suddenly you'll run into a "speed limit vigilante" going exactly 100 in the left or (even worse!) middle lane. Then you all have to slam on the brakes, weave around the twit, then repeat. It's terrible.
Hahaha so true...whenever I go up there from Barbados it makes me cringe at first because I'm used to such driving maneuvers done by others on the street resulting in a crash or at least a dangerous loss of control.
Any raise in a speed limit is a good thing.
Gearheadotaku wrote: Any increase in driver training is a good thing.
FTFY
While discussing this with a friend who is a eco modder. The thought came to mind. How about elapsed time vs mpg.
In other words the high speed vehicle would spend less time on the road .
When I was in north Texas many years ago, speed limits were non existant practically. After three years there i couldn't get back to NYS fast enough
Meh. Montana didn't have speed limits for the longest time. How is this news?
It is the highest limit in Texas, before that it was 80 on i10 west of San antonio in other news, they recently increased the limit on 45 between Houston and Dallas to 75 from 70, now everyone drives 80-90 instead of 75-80
Remember Montana-bahn?
iceracer wrote: While discussing this with a friend who is a eco modder. The thought came to mind. How about elapsed time vs mpg.
That's math you don't want to do. It usually works out that your best cost/benefit ratio is to taxi to the Interstate and find the car's top speed.
Thinking about a 60 mile trip. 60 miles at 60mph is one hour, and let's say this gets 30mpg. Let's also say that 60 miles at 120mph gets 10mpg. One trip costs $8, the other costs $24, but you saved a half-hour. Is your time worth $32/hour? Maybe, if you're a freelance contractor and you have a long trip ahead of you where the time savings would be even more significant than a lunch break.
Hal wrote: You all are missing one fact that I noticed in other info about the road in question. It is a toll road. I think that will maybe keep the slower traffic off of it.
Texas built the 130 toll road to decrease the traffic on I-35 through Austin. The traffic snarl through that section of I-35 with all the freight coming from and going to Mexico is a mess.
Problem is, the 130 toll is the most expensive toll road in the state AND they just doubled the cost last week (just in time for the 85 mph limit). It's just a ploy to try to get more people to drive on it and actually pay for it.....
*Funny side item, the tolls were built with a bunch of toll booths. About 6 months into the toll roads being opened, when they realized nobody drives on it, they had to save money and changed to the automatic bill system. Basically, you just drive on the toll and get a bill in the mail that you can pay online. So now, there's a bunch of nice new toll booths that are empty....
-Rob
Something that I remember my first chief pilot saying as we left El Paso going to Brownsville, "Texas is big, even in a Lear Jet"
So that 85 MPH toll road is a mile from my house. It's really a joke. It's stupid expensive, the customer service if there is a billing issue is a joke, and the money goes to Spain of all places.
We would drive to Lubbock to see my aunt when she was working there and there is nothing out in west texas. We would cruise most of the way at least going 90 MPH. There is nothing for miles and miles and miles. I remember one trip we counted 30 cars the whole trip outside of the city limits. That was 80 MPH even then. It's really the great nothing. They only place worse is the drive from omaha, nebraska to salt lake city on 80
The big problem you have in Austin is most people are lucky to even go the speed limit and if they do the roads are so crowded, it doesn't last long. We earned the title of the 8th worse traffic in the US due to a long history of bad urban planning and the fact no one wanted to spend money on infrastructure.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-09-09/texas-interstate-speed-limit/57701428/1?csp=34news
carguy123 wrote: BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY ROAD WITH THAT SPEED LIMIT! That's just the only toll road with that speed limit.
Captive audience, Kinda like any thruway.
TRoglodyte wrote:carguy123 wrote: BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY ROAD WITH THAT SPEED LIMIT! That's just the only toll road with that speed limit.Captive audience, Kinda like any thruway.
So where is there an equal or higher speed limit? One of the articles posted earlier says Texas and one other state have the highest speed limits at 80mph.
Edit: found it - Texas and Utah currently are the speed kings, with 80 mph speed limits.
I'm 99% certain that they just raised the speed limit in west Texas to 85 this year.
It was 80 when I drove it last year hauling a trailer full of household belongings.
carguy123 wrote: I'm 99% certain that they just raised the speed limit in west Texas to 85 this year. It was 80 when I drove it last year hauling a trailer full of household belongings.
pretty sure its still 80, and it is according to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States
hotlink: 
Coincidence? Same week that the speed limit goes up, this dude was out at Fiorano in a 458...
Strizzo wrote:carguy123 wrote: I'm 99% certain that they just raised the speed limit in west Texas to 85 this year. It was 80 when I drove it last year hauling a trailer full of household belongings.pretty sure its still 80, and it is according to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States hotlink:
I'll have to take your word for it because there's no reason for me to go check it out. That's one boring stretch of road far, far away from anything with redeeming social values.
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