DieselRacer
banned
I-40 on way to Vegas from Phoenix is 85mph which is fun cause everyone is doing 100mph plus...
Only 2 problems with this: First, I-40 doesn't run through Vegas, and Second, I-40 doesn't run through Phoenix. However, US 93 DOES run through both, so perhaps you meant it?I-40 on way to Vegas from Phoenix is 85mph which is fun cause everyone is doing 100mph plus...
93 and 40 are the same thing for 22.2 miles on that route.Only 2 problems with this: First, I-40 doesn't run through Vegas, and Second, I-40 doesn't run through Phoenix. However, US 93 DOES run through both, so perhaps you meant it?
TXDot raised the speed limit on 2 lane country roads in Texas to 75! The little winding country road that I used to take to work went from 60 to 75 overnight.
Not disputing your facts but I could find nothing stating the limit anywhere in Arizona is posted any higher than 75. The law on the book is a bit confusing as to what can be enforced where but according to what I could find the maximum posted is 75 mph.....I-40 on way to Vegas from Phoenix is 85mph which is fun cause everyone is doing 100mph plus...
You are correct. I drive I-40 from Kingman to Flagstaff (which includes the 22 miles in question) several times a year. It is a 75 mph speed limit and the Arizona police are quite fond of writing tickets to out of state drivers. I won't go over 80 on that road.Not disputing your facts but I could find nothing stating the limit anywhere in Arizona is posted any higher than 75. The law on the book is a bit confusing as to what can be enforced where but according to what I could find the maximum posted is 75 mph.....
and..........Idaho and Wyoming will become the third and fourth American states to bump speed limits on their interstates to 80 miles per hour (128.7 km/h).
Last week, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead signed a bill into a law to permit 80 mph speeds (up from 75 mph) on certain highway segments. The change was endorsed by 24 votes against 6 by the state’s Senate, while the House lawmakers approved it on a 53-6 vote.
Neighboring state Idaho is looking to do same, with certain stretches of interstate to have their speed limit increased to 80 mph. The bill passed the senate on a 30-4 vote, but it’s now up to the Transportation Department to decide which roads will allow drivers to travel at speeds of up to 80 mph.
Although the bill has seen strong opposition in Idaho, with some state representatives raising safety-related concerns, Rep. Marc Gibbs said the change can be safely implemented. In Utah, for instance, a research based on speed studies found that vehicle crashes have slightly dropped over the past three years.
The new 80-mph limits will come into effect as of July 1, 2014, in both Idaho and Wyoming. Until then, Utah and Texas will remain the only states that allow all vehicles to travel 80 mph or higher on certain roads.
You soon could be driving a bit faster on Idaho roads.
Governor Otter signed a bill that lawmakers passed to increase the legal speed limit on highways and interstates.
Get ready to go a little faster on Idaho highways and interstates.
A new law will change the legal speed limits for anyone driving through the gem state.
However, the Idaho Transportation Department did not back the bill.
"There isn't really direction on where we want to go on this as far as the Transportation Department. This wasn't a bill that was driven by ITD this is something that came from the legislatures to push this forward and change the speed limits,” said Nathan Jerke, ITD.
You will see a jump from 75 mph to 80 mph on the interstate and from 65 mph to 70 mph.
Now that the bill is law, the Transportation Department will conduct surveys across the state to determine whether an increase will be safe for you.
"We are trying to decide what the locations will be the speed limit increases. How are we going to factor in weather conditions and concerns,” said Jerke.
Once ITD conducts the surveys' you could see new signs posted as soon as late summer.
"We feel like the safety study that will be conducted by ITD will definitely take care of any danger area. For example in the Boise area 80-mph isn't appropriate and possibly other congested areas in urban spots,” said Senator Jim Patrick.
The law doesn't go into effect until July 1, 2014. ITD tells us they will begin doing surveys' this spring.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol hands out nearly twice as many speeding tickets to out-of-state drivers as it does to in-state motorists,
But the administrator of the patrol says the agency doesn’t target drivers from outside Wyoming.
An analysis by the Casper Star-Tribune shows that the Wyoming Highway Patrol handed out just over 21,000 speeding tickets to state residents in 2012 while writing nearly 40,000 to drivers from elsewhere in the country.
In 2011, the patrol issued 22,000 speeding tickets to Wyoming drivers while motorists with out-of-state plates received 39,644 speeding tickets, according to the state data.
Col. John Butler, administrator of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, said the agency doesn’t target out-of-state drivers. “We don’t base our enforcement action on what [the] plate [is] and where the people are from,” he said.
Wyoming’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry and the interstate highways that cross the state draw thousands of out-of-state drivers. Butler said tourists who get nabbed for speeding sometimes complain and vow never to return to the state.
“It’s an unfair comment,” Butler said. “We have a job to do.”
But drivers’ advocates are leery of law enforcement’s supposed blind eye to license plates.
“Any time you’re driving outside of your home state, you need to be careful for aggressive law enforcement,” said John Bowman, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association. “It doesn’t surprise me that Wyoming issues more tickets to out-of-state than in-state drivers. It comes down to practicality.”
Bowman said drivers traveling outside their home state are easy pickings for law enforcement because they are less likely to contest a speeding ticket in court.
“If I am a Wisconsin driver and get ticketed in Wyoming, most likely I won’t be traveling back to the state for a court appearance to contest the ticket,” Bowman said.
The states that tallied the most tickets in Wyoming were Colorado, Utah, California, Montana, Idaho and Texas.
Even though Colorado earned the most out-of-state tickets, Butler said Utah drivers tend to be even wilder on the road.
“They tend to think it’s OK to drive five or 10 miles an hour over the limit,” Butler said of Utah drivers. “I don’t know what it is with them.”
Butler’s advice for those who like to hightail it on the open road is simple: Follow the law.
Butler said he and his colleagues have heard a litany of excuses in their combined years on the job. So many, he said, the patrol “should write a book.” He said he doesn’t recommend the hospital excuse. If someone says he or she is in a hurry to make it there, the patrol calls medical officials to verify.
The bathroom excuse doesn’t work, either, he said. And he added: “I’ve seen people get out of their car and go after we pull them over.”
Wyoming Highway Patrol considers Utah drivers the worst speeders
We've all been there. A drive on the wide-open interstate is interrupted by flashing red lights and the blare of a siren.
A quick look at the speedometer confirms one thing: the likelihood of a speeding ticket.
Whether the run-in occurs in Wyoming or another state, it feels similar to a punch in the gut.
And an analysis shows that drivers whose license plates aren't adorned with the Tetons and the bucking horse are bearing the brunt of speeding citations issued by the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
Wyoming drivers do tally more tickets per capita than their counterparts in any other state or territory in North America. But the preponderance of tickets issued by the Highway Patrol here go to out-of-state drivers.
In 2011, the patrol issued 22,000 speeding tickets to Wyoming drivers. Motorists with out-of-state plates received 39,644 speeding tickets, according to the state data.
In 2012, it was more of the same. Wyoming drivers received 21,225 speeding tickets, compared with 39,596 for drivers from other places in North America.
Wyoming's multibillion-dollar tourism industry and oft-used transportation mainlines are magnets for out-of-state drivers. But their foreign status doesn't drive the ticketing, said Col. John Butler, Wyoming Highway Patrol administrator.
"We don't base our enforcement action on what (the) plate (is) and where the people are from," he said.
Butler said tourists who get nabbed for their heavy feet sometimes complain and vow never to return to the state.
"It's an unfair comment," Butler said. "We have a job to do."
But drivers' advocates are leery of law enforcement's supposed blind eye to license plates.
"Any time you're driving outside of your home state, you need to be careful for aggressive law enforcement," said John Bowman, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association. "It doesn't surprise me that Wyoming issues more tickets to out-of-state than in-state drivers. It comes down to practicality."
Bowman said drivers traveling outside their home state are easy pickings for law enforcement because they are less likely to contest a speeding ticket in court. It's a "slam dunk," he said.
"If I am a Wisconsin driver and get ticketed in Wyoming, most likely I won't be traveling back to the state for a court appearance to contest the ticket," Bowman said.
The states that tallied the most tickets in Wyoming were Colorado, Utah, California, Montana, Idaho and Texas.
Colorado led the pack in 2011 with 12,333, and Utah followed with 6,243.
Among Wyoming drivers, it's well known that the sight of Colorado and Utah plates proves worrisome.
"If you don't keep up with the traffic in Denver, you will get run over," Butler said.
Even though Colorado earned the most out-of-state tickets, Butler said Utah drivers tend to be even wilder on the road.
"They tend to think it's OK to drive five or 10 miles an hour over the limit," he said. "I don't know what it is with them."
A quick Google search for "Wyoming speeding tickets" speaks to the multitude of out-of-state drivers ticketed in the confines of the state. One of the top questions is whether points and fines will transfer from one state to another.
Fortunately for those drivers with a tendency to put the pedal to the floor, Wyoming doesn't have a point system, said Jeff Goetz, a spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
But Wyoming does have a driver's license compact with 44 other states (the exceptions are Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, Massachusetts and Georgia). The agreement calls for states to notify one another when law enforcement tickets a driver.
States that participate in the compact will suspend drivers' privileges in their home state if the person is cited in another state and fails to appear in court or pay a fine.
The infraction will appear on the driving history in the state in which they were cited, not on their home state's driving record, said Sgt. John Townsend, spokesman for the Highway Patrol.
Butler's advice for those who like to hightail it on the open road is simple: Follow the law.
He and his colleagues have heard a litany of excuses in their combined years on the job. So many, he said, the patrol "should write a book."
He doesn't recommend the hospital excuse. If someone says he or she is in a hurry to make it there, the patrol calls medical officials to verify.
The bathroom excuse doesn't work, either, he said. And he added: "I've seen people get out of their car and go after we pull them over."
State with the highest speed trap stats on out of state drivers
Driving the vast expanses of the great American West requires two things: books-on-tape and speed. Just try to make Casper from anywhere in the state with radio silence and the cruise control on 55. You’ll go mad.
I’m not advocating speeding. That would be reckless and could possibly toss our publisher into a state of anxiety. But the truth of it is, hammer down on a Wyoming highway is practically a rite of passage, and I have always trusted in our treasured and valued Highway Patrol to cut locals a break. And now we learn they do.
According to new data, Wyoming Highway Patrol issues far more speeding tickets to out-of-state drivers than Wyoming residents. This is at least some consolation to locals who have for years had to deal with the highest rate of tickets issued per capita than any other state or territory in North America.
WHP administrators say they don’t target non-bucking horse plates but that’s nonsense. Stops on I-80 are motivated primarily by the hope of a big score. Patrolmen are not going to waste their time and effort on running down a Riverton Ranger for doing 82 in a 75.
A California tag flying by at five over the limit, however, might entice a trooper to make the stop with dreams of a trunkful of methamphetamine to brag on back at headquarters.
State legislators recently jacked sections of I-80 to an 80-mph speed limit. It’s a good start. Even better would be to add another one of those dual limit signs distinguishing trucks from other motorists, only this one should read: “Speed Limit 80, 65 for Utah drivers.”
This state is well known by Denver drivers to be more of a speed trap state than similar states in the region. Kansas & Nebraska are a close second and third. In Kansas it was really noticeable when they were the outlyer being the only state with a 70 maximum until ~3 years ago.Wyoming drivers do tally more tickets per capita than their counterparts in any other state or territory in North America. But the preponderance of tickets issued by the Highway Patrol here go to out-of-state drivers.
Well yes & No on that one.....In 2011, the patrol issued 22,000 speeding tickets to Wyoming drivers. Motorists with out-of-state plates received 39,644 speeding tickets, according to the state data.
In 2012, it was more of the same. Wyoming drivers received 21,225 speeding tickets, compared with 39,596 for drivers from other places in North America.
Wyoming's multibillion-dollar tourism industry and oft-used transportation mainlines are magnets for out-of-state drivers. But their foreign status doesn't drive the ticketing, said Col. John Butler, Wyoming Highway Patrol administrator.
"We don't base our enforcement action on what (the) plate (is) and where the people are from," he said.
If memory serves they write most tickets for less than 11 mph above posted with little regard to what you are pulled over for to encourage out of state drivers not to challenge the ticket. With the ticket written in this range drivers qualify for ticket deferment if the pay for and complete a ~8 hour course of defensive driving. If you complete the class, pass the test, send in the certificate to the state all charges are dropped. The costs balance out to be about the same amount as just paying the ticket but in the end you get to keep your clean driving record.....Butler said tourists who get nabbed for their heavy feet sometimes complain and vow never to return to the state.
"It's an unfair comment," Butler said. "We have a job to do."
But drivers' advocates are leery of law enforcement's supposed blind eye to license plates.
"Any time you're driving outside of your home state, you need to be careful for aggressive law enforcement," said John Bowman, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association. "It doesn't surprise me that Wyoming issues more tickets to out-of-state than in-state drivers. It comes down to practicality."
Bowman said drivers traveling outside their home state are easy pickings for law enforcement because they are less likely to contest a speeding ticket in court. It's a "slam dunk," he said.
"If I am a Wisconsin driver and get ticketed in Wyoming, most likely I won't be traveling back to the state for a court appearance to contest the ticket," Bowman said.
The states that tallied the most tickets in Wyoming were Colorado, Utah, California, Montana, Idaho and Texas.
Colorado led the pack in 2011 with 12,333, and Utah followed with 6,243.
Among Wyoming drivers, it's well known that the sight of Colorado and Utah plates proves worrisome.
"If you don't keep up with the traffic in Denver, you will get run over," Butler said.
Even though Colorado earned the most out-of-state tickets, Butler said Utah drivers tend to be even wilder on the road.
"They tend to think it's OK to drive five or 10 miles an hour over the limit," he said. "I don't know what it is with them."
A quick Google search for "Wyoming speeding tickets" speaks to the multitude of out-of-state drivers ticketed in the confines of the state. One of the top questions is whether points and fines will transfer from one state to another.
Fortunately for those drivers with a tendency to put the pedal to the floor, Wyoming doesn't have a point system, said Jeff Goetz, a spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
But Wyoming does have a driver's license compact with 44 other states (the exceptions are Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, Massachusetts and Georgia). The agreement calls for states to notify one another when law enforcement tickets a driver.
States that participate in the compact will suspend drivers' privileges in their home state if the person is cited in another state and fails to appear in court or pay a fine.
Gov. Gary Herbert signed 51 bills Thursday and Friday that were passed during the recent legislative session, including a measure that will allow transportation officials to raise the speed limit along stretches of interstates and five bills relating to veterans issues.
HB80 expands on an experiment begun last year, wherein the state added 289 miles of 80-mph speed zones on rural freeways. The House sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, said during legislative hearings that along those stretches the average speed being traveled only increased by 1 to 2 mph.
Officials could raise the speed along the 75 mph stretches to 80 mph, or increase the 65 mph speed limits to anywhere from 70 mph to 80 mph, as they see fit.
Those numbers only tell part of the story. To reveal whether the argument is true (either one - WHP targets out of state drivers or not) you also have to know the population. That is, what percentage of the traffic on the road is from out of state?
Until that total population characteristic is known, statements from either side have the same intelligence content as the noises from my anal sphincter after eating garlic infused beans.
But even that is not completely sufficient. You also have to know what the mean and standard deviation is on each population component (in state vs out of state) in regard to speed is before a judgement can be made.
Doesn't anybody pay attention in statistics classes anymore?
Cheers!
PH
80 MPH is already how fast many (most?) drive in metro areas and along the Interstates.Last time I was in Utah on 80 mph roads I saw 2 cars upside down in the ditch. Lots of people just drive at the posted limit without regard for their car or driving ability. Like a video game or cell phone app. Not sure the majority can handle 80. Is it worth the risk?
A proposal that would increase the speed limit on Florida highways cleared its final committee Thursday and now heads to the Senate floor.
But organizations like AAA are opposed to the speed limit increase and have publicly asked lawmakers to vote against its approval.
"We're deeply concerned for the safety of Florida's roadway users with cars traveling at increasingly higher speeds on our interstates and other highways," said Kevin Bakewell, senior vice president, chief public affairs officer at AAA - The Auto Club Group.
"Based upon similar action in other states, this change in state law will likely result in more crashes, injuries and deaths on our highways," read part of a statement from AAA.
The House bill (HB 761) sponsored by Republican Rep. Matt Caldwell of Lehigh Acres has also received little opposition and has one more committee stop before being ready for a House vote.
Right now the companion bill in the Florida House remains stuck in committee. The bill that is currently stalled in the house needs a push from supporters, the people calling their representative if it is to have a chance of passing this year.
SB 932 would allow the Florida Department of Transportation to increase the speed limit from 70 to 75 miles per hour, while divided rural four lane highways would see the speed upped from 65 to 70 mph.
If the proposals were to become law, they would take effect on July 1....
"Seventy-nine. In the rain. With no headlights on."
With those words, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper John Schultz sped onto Interstate 10 and flipped on his red, white and blue flashing lights and pulled over a black Nissan Maxima. He told the driver she was getting a ticket for exceeding the 70 mph speed limit.
Highway safety advocates say that if the Florida Legislature passes a bill that would allow the state to raise the speed limit to 75 mph there could be more crashes, injuries and deaths. The bill's supporters say people are already driving that fast and the speed limit should reflect reality — and would actually be safer."She said, 'I had the cruise control set at 79.' Yeah, it's working," Schultz said as he wrote the ticket. "She said 'I just assumed I could go 10 over.' So if we change the limit to 75, she'd be going 85."
Actually real data shows that she is going 79 because that is a comfortable speed she feels is safe! And that same data says that if the limit is raised to 75 she will not increase her speed to 85! What the data shows is that she will likely do keep her speed in the 78-to 81 mph range the same as she does now. And that data says that is what the rest of the drivers around her will also do.
How do we ever get proper limits set with this kind of garbage still getting credence from those that are pretty smart.?.?.?.
"If you artificially force lower speed limits on roads that can accommodate faster speed limits, what you're going to have is a greater disparity between the fastest drivers and the slowest drivers and that's actually a much more unsafe environment than having everybody going faster together," Sen. Jeff Clemens said.
The bill (SB 392) Clemens, D-Lake Worth, sponsored along with Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg sailed through committees with little opposition and is ready to be considered by the full Senate. A House bill (HB 761) sponsored by Republican Rep. Matt Caldwell of Lehigh Acres has also received little opposition and has one more committee stop before being ready for a House vote.
The measures would allow the Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit on interstate and limited access highways from 70 to 75 mph, from 65 to 70 mph on rural, four-lane divided highways and up to 65 mph on other roads. It does not automatically raise the speed limits.
"If you look back to when we rescinded the national speed limit (of 55 mph) in the mid-'90s until now, it's been 20 years of history and I think in only one year have fatalities actually increased. So the predictions of doom and gloom that we had in the mid-'90s just didn't come true," Clemens said.
But a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report showed that traffic fatalities on rural interstates increased by 10 percent in 1996, the year after the national speed limit was lifted and states were allowed to set their own standards.
And the fear of highway safety advocates is that another increase in Florida will result in more deaths because people will drive faster and be that much more at risk of losing control. The higher speeds also create more violent collisions, they say.
"It's clear that injuries and fatalities go up whenever someone raises the speed limit," John Ulczycki, a vice president of the National Safety Council, said in a press release opposing the bills. "Raising speed limits will increase the likelihood of a crash, and the government would in effect be telling people it's safe to drive faster."
Schultz, who patrols an area near Tallahassee, estimates most drivers on Interstate 10 are driving between 75 and 80 mph, and he thinks that will increase with a higher limit. Driving in the rain, he clocked a string of traffic going in the opposite direction.
"Seventy-eight," he said after the first radar reading. "There's 79 on the truck. That motorcycle right there is 82. Where I'm going with this is it's raining out and no one reduces their speed."
And a higher speed limit will make the situation more dangerous, he said. He also pointed out that the speed limit now is essentially 75 mph because the state only allows for warnings and not fines for the first five miles per hour above the speed limit.
"They're going to take it to the next extreme and go up even higher," Schultz said. "We want to keep people safe."
I could tell the exact same story from trip down 401 west of woodstock ~30 years ago. I was running around 70 when a pack of cars came by doing in the mid to high 80s. About 5 miles down the road someone had messed up and cars were everywhere, in the ditch & median.....But that was with the 100 posted maximum? I contend the accident would have happened with little regard to what the posted maximum was.....Last time I was in Utah on 80 mph roads I saw 2 cars upside down in the ditch. Lots of people just drive at the posted limit without regard for their car or driving ability. Like a video game or cell phone app. Not sure the majority can handle 80. Is it worth the risk?
Yes. The answer is yes.Last time I was in Utah on 80 mph roads I saw 2 cars upside down in the ditch. Lots of people just drive at the posted limit without regard for their car or driving ability. Like a video game or cell phone app. Not sure the majority can handle 80. Is it worth the risk?
Haha that's one way to think about it.Yes. The answer is yes.
On the downside, you must have massively poor MPG!!!Those higher speed limits work great in Texas! Love setting my cruise control on 90 when going to San Antonio (I know the speed limit is 85 but who cares!)
How do you know they were on bald tires?? Did you do a survey, collect data, do you have pictures of these bald tire cars that were around you on the road in Utah or other western state??????????Haha that's one way to think about it.
My concern is that higher speeds magnify damage exponentially. We can all think of examples where speed is not the factor, and blame everyone else for their poor judgment or skills while we assume we are superior drivers and will remain safe. But when you're out on the road you're part of a system and bad things can happen. Those inferior drivers may come into your lane.
BTW sounds like the CHP is doing some good things looking for following distances, lane behavior, etc. Kudos to them. Eventually if driver training and the culture of driving becomes more serious like Europe maybe 80-85 will make sense in N.America. Until then I don't buy it. I'd rather see 65 and smaller fines for going over and more good police work so if someone is driving a quality high speed sedan like a TDI then they won't be nailed so hard for just speeding.
I won't quote stats because you can make them say whatever you want. Damn lies and all that... My opinion is based on experience driving through Utah and other western states, where 80 felt like an accident waiting to happen, with tiny bald tired Kias and old Corollas buzzing along beside me (in the left lane of course) at 80.