Deseret News | Speed limit of 80 mph now legal on parts of I-15

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Speed limit of 80 mph now legal on parts of I-15

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ut driver | 1:21 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

WAHOOOOO!!!! NOW EVERYONE CAN GO 90!!!!

Alan | 4:08 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

80 mph (130 km/h) is legal on similar highways of most European countries including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and even tiny Luxembourg. Thus, Utah's new speed zones should not be seen as unusual. Also, countless studies of the actual speeds at which motorists choose to drive demonstrate "everyone" will not "go 90" as claimed by "ut driver."

Mario | 4:40 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

What,we are bring treated like adults?? I always felt speeding tickets were bogus if the driver was not impaired,vehicle is in sound mechanical condition to travel the speeds it was at,you were not weaving in and out of traffic causing others to yield to you,where's the fou?The officer pulls you over,scopes the situation out,if all is good,he says something like "Hey, lets keep it safe and have a nice day" No problem officer, you have a nice day to.Thats all it should be,not some victimless crime you get charged with and pay and pay for. So I now have more appreciation for our law makers making mature decisions for me. GO UTES!!

Comments continue below

re: ut driver | 5:15 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I don't think so. From what I understand the state troopers have the option of throwing the book at you if they catch you going one mile over 80.

Anonymous | 5:16 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

are you trying to kill off the youth of utah ? they
can't controll their vehicle's at 65.

re: ut driver | 5:40 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

you're an idiot. the only ones going 90 are the ones from california on their way to the ski resorts. Ut drivers always go slow and block the fast lanes.

stupid | 5:41 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Now I'll plan on being passed at 90 by some idiot that doesn't have the NASCAR skills to drive that fast while talking on their cell phone.
We all need to slow down and learn to leave early enough to get where you're going without risking your families life. Life would be more pleasant.

Be Considerate | 6:22 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Please don't force me off the road and kill me when you're speeding past my car! 80 is fine if people actually drive it, but if people will go 90 now then please leave it at 75.

Our legislature at work | 6:29 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

How stupid! Of course they allow 60 MPH on HI 111 in western Salt Lake Valley in residential areas. I guess the highway death toll is too low for them.

WHY? | 6:26 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Although I agree that it's good to get through Juab County as fast as possible, what is the reasoning for raising the speed limit?

DUI | 6:45 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I think it is stupid, because all the drunk drivers out there will get a little more slack when they drink and drive! They pull them over for speeding, and then they find that they're drunk. Now, with an increased speed limit, they don't have to worry as much!

gas | 6:55 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

gas anyone? wasting gas at high speeds..... and we say this state is conservative, and that we are concerned about our use of God's resources.

are we a joke or what.

Zoo Mom | 7:01 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I don't think upping the speed limit was a smart move. I agree with "STUPID"s 5:41 comment. Those of us who choose to drive 65 - 75 will irritate the faster drivers and before you know it, a wreck will occur with fatalities.

Bob2 | 7:18 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

New line by the Tire Guys in Beaver who try to scam you into buying tires while you fill up at gas station connected to their store...

"Welp, I don't know if I'd go through those 80 mph patches on those. I think I might be saving you a big headache if we could slap the spare on it. Bring it on over and we'll pop er up on the rack..."

Love it! | 7:36 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Great Idea! I love the speed limit change! I drive the points frequently and enjoy the OPTION to go faster. If you are upset with it get in the right lane and drive whatever speed you want. Faster has not been proven to be more dangerous! Auto Bahn ect! Happy Driving!

--Ray | 7:43 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

90 really isn't that fast. One almost NEEDS to drive 90 across certain parts of Wyoming, Utah, and other flat areas of the country. And who can stay awake driving so slowly otherwise. Driving at the edge of one's ability to keep the car on the road helps keep the adrenaline pumping, which is essential on long trips. --Ray

Wasteful | 7:50 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Speeds like that are wasteful - they burn more gas, cost us more money, and make the roads more dangerous. We should be heading the other direction... 65 mph tops, everywhere. We have to stop wasting our limited resources; who wants to support the middle-east oil companies more?

Texas | 7:52 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Interstate 10 from about Kerrville to El Paso is 80 mph in Texas. When I drive it, most people stick to the limit, and it's great. Speed limit for trucks is still 70. Even if it was 70 mph for cars, there are always some who will do 90 mph anyway. Let the law of evolution decide their fate.

Anonymous | 8:10 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

This is a good idea. Traveling through rural Utah at 75mph is ok but I usually set the cruise at 83 anyway.

Davis | 8:15 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

How nice. 80 as a limit and many won't hit it but when the limit goes down to 65 they speed up to 80.

Wes | 8:19 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

hahahahah. My old truck won't even go 80 mph.

The real change needed. | 8:20 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Speed limits are stupid. The cars can safely travel at those speeds. Many can safely travel much faster. It is the drivers that need to be scrutinized. Weaving traffic, pulling out in front of someone while driving 20 MPH slower than them. Not moving back to the right hand lane after a pass. Not slowing down if the road conditions are poor. Cops should just put away their radar detectors and pull over the idiots out there instead.

xscribe | 8:26 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Alan, please cite us the studies that drivers won't now drive 3-5 miles an hour over the posted 80-mile-an-hour speed limit. I've never seen a higher speed limit where drivers actually drive that limit; most drivers will drive faster than what is posted. I don't know about Utah, but here in Colorado, where I, too, drive 3-5 over the 75-mile-per-hour limit, I get passed like I'm standing still. I've also at that same speed counted how many drivers I pass in a 60-mile stretch, and it was exactly one. Now, with that said, I think drivers are already driving 80 miles per hour, so it's good they are testing it out so as to make it legal. Hopefully it doesn't make for more accidents and deaths, but time will tell on that.

cb | 8:30 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Accoording to the article, 85% of drivers are going 80 already. I apploud the state for honoring the natural speed on the freeway. Know if they would enforce slower drivers in the left lane law.

James | 8:30 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Despite rural and urban interstate speed limits slowly increasing over the last decade, motor vehicle fatality rates have been declining over the same period. In 1994, there were 1.73 motor vehicle deaths per 100 million miles driven in the US. That rate was 1.37 at the end of 2007, a 21% decline in 13 years. Do a Google search for motor vehicle fatality statistics and click on the first link. The reason for increasing the speed limit is, as Mario alluded to, to decriminalize harmless behavior.

Evidence demonstrates that driving faster does not cause accidents. Driving coupled with bad judgment, regardless of being over or under a posted speed limit, is the cause of accidents and fatalities (e.g. driving drunk, fatigue, inattentiveness, etc.). If you're familiar with how to prevent bad judgment, then please share if with the rest of us.

??? | 8:47 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

My husband and I drove to Cedar City and back last week. I couldn't believe the 80 speed limit, and can't really understand a logical reason for it. Drivers already drive 80 on those stretches of road (with the mentality of "the police won't ticket you if you're 5 miles over) so now they'll drive 85?

This seems to be a way to get people to drive faster and forget to slow down at these towns so they can be ticketed. Fillmore is already a speed trap.

We all like to get through long, boring stretches of road quickly, but accidents can still happen in these areas.

What a dumb idea, this 80 mph speed limit!

Studies | 9:09 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

As a professor of highway safety studies show that there are less accidents and the severity of those accidents are less when speed limits are higher.

Wendover anyone? | 9:10 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Why Juab county, why not across the west desert where everyone already drives at least 80? I say open the whole stretch from Knolls to the Stateline as a test area.

Power | 9:16 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The Bill Hickman Law.

From Texas | 9:19 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Texas has two very long stretches of 80mph limits on Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 in west Texas. They have found that very few people are speeding much over the 80 mph limit. Some are going 85, very few above that. It has not been an automatic, "let's go 10mph above whatever speed limit is posted." They have found the vast majority of drivers don't have a comfort level to drive much over the 80-85 mph speeds. So some of the comments here don't actually play out in real life.

Stephen | 9:25 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Good. 80 is a perfectly safe speed.

I have been driving that speed for some time and have had no problems at all.

We need to move beyond the mentality that anything above what the slowest person drives is crazy.

Speed limits should be based on the 85%. The speed that up to 85% of the drivers drive.

If you want to drive slower, by all means go ahead. Just be polite and keep to the right lane except when passing. The same thing all motorists should do.

Isn't this..... | 9:31 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

how they study to see if there is a need for speed out on the freeway?

Lets see some fatalities and then do something after the end results?

Geezer | 9:37 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Does anybody care about conserving energy? What's the energy consumption per mile at 80 vs. lower speeds?

Great | 9:49 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Many of our new cars are advanced enough that they handle 80 easily. Many of our alert drivers will have no problem handling this speed. When you hear about someone slamming into the behind of a slow moving vehicle, speed is not always an issue. I'm all for this.

To Wendover anyone | 10:00 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Read the article. They used Juab county as a test area due to less traffic than the west desert.

Anonymous | 10:07 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

"The 80 mph limit was based on studies last summer that showed the 85th percentile of speed in those stretches was already 80 mph."

Of course people went 80mph. Everyone knows they can push the speed limit by 5mph. But now the average will be 85mph.

MAJOR POINT | 10:26 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

To you drivers who don't want to drive 80 MPH?

Stay out of the left hand lane.....its against the law to impede traffic in the left lane while there is room for you to move over to the slower lanes!

@Geezer | 10:26 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The energy consumption varies from one car model to another, and even between cars of the same model depending on how they're maintained. Every car has a "sweet spot" where the engine is consuming the least fuel, but where that spot is depends on the combination of the engine, the transmission and the driving conditions.

In short, "Your Mileage May Vary".

Dear Geezer | 10:35 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

1. No; and 2. Who cares?

SO... | 11:24 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

...If most of the people are breaking the law then it's OK.
What kind of stupid liberal mentality is that?

Save gas? | 11:33 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Forget that!
The greedy oilmen are leaving town next week.
Gas prices will never, never, never, ever go up again!

Minimum speed limit | 11:35 a.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Instead of a Maximum speed limit on the free way...there should be a minimum speed limit of 80MPH

Anonymous | 12:19 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

It is interesting to me to see how many comments are made about staying out of the left lane. If anyone has driven this stretch of highway often, you know you cannot always stay to the right. There is often a chain of semi trucks that block both lanes.
It might be a better suggestion to leave the speed limit where it was and put in extra lanes. That way the trucks will be out of everyones way.

Whiners | 12:51 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

To those who think it's dangerous for someone in the left lane to be going 80mph while they are going 65mph in the right lane, ever been on a two-lane highway? If someone who is traveling West at 55mph, hits someone traveling East at 55mph, it's many times more likely that a fatality will occur than if someone rear ends you when they are going 80mph and you are going 65mph. The primary dangers on the road from other drivers isn't speed, it's common sense. Too close of a following distance, erradic lane changes, impeding the flow of traffic, intoxication, driving at high speeds on icy roads or in times of poor visibililty, etc.

LOL | 12:54 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

In reference to the 12:19 p.m. comments. I have driven that stretch of highway often and there has never been a time when I couldn't be in the right lane going 75mph over 95% of the time. Sure I may need to pass a few semi trucks here and there, but I don't pass them by going just 1mph faster than they are traveling. Good grief, change lanes, speed up 5-10mph and get back in the right lane. Pretty simple. How many millions of dollars would it take to add extra lanes? Would it save anymore lives? Logic please....

The Rock | 1:18 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I was born in American Fork.
I graduated from BYU.
I live in Seattle.
I feel like I am taking my life in my hands everytime I drive in Utah as it is.
I have had several friends killed on Utah highways.
None have been killed in Washington or in California (where I lived from age 8 to 33).

Utah drivers are the worst I have ever seen.
I drive 70 in your 75 zones because that is fast enough.

I am a conservative and hate Washington's liberal politics. The liberals kill their young while still in the womb.
Utah kills them on the highways.

How about Colorado and Wyoming? | 1:41 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Not quite as good as Reasonable and Prudent, but every mile per hour helps!

fred | 1:49 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

You actually save gas by going faster because you are driving your car a reduced amount of time than going slower and driving longer. Plus it is safer to go faster because you are on the road less time and reduces the opportunity for accidents.

People who are driving in the left lane at a speed slower than the flow of traffic should be stopped and the UHP should crush their car and leave them and their car by the side of the road.

San Diego | 1:59 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I like driving in San Diego because everyone drives at least 75 where possible. Even those in the right lane.

I dislike driving in Utah because people drive in the left lane at 5mph under the limit. They refuse to move over when I come up behind them.

Follow the prophet | 2:02 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

I am active LDS and I am insulted by these comments from San Diego and Seattle -- the liberal West Coast mentality shines through! Whatever happened to "honoring and obeying the law" -- as the prophet asks us to do?

I do my part by driving 5mph under the speed limit, and staying in the left lane to set a good example for my brothers and sisters.

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