Speed limit bills heat up at statehouses across the U.S.

Speed limits are always a battleground at statehouses.

This year is no different. Lawmakers across the country are rolling out bills to change speed limits.

The national speed limit was scrapped in 1995. Since then, states have been on their own, acting as traffic cops and setting whatever speeds they want.

For years, many states required trucks to crawl along at speeds slower than cars. But over the past two decades, many of them have backed away from those split speeds.

At first, states set tighter speed limits for heavy trucks than for passenger vehicles. Now, many have ditched those gaps or shrunk them.

Still, eight states maintain speed limit splits on at least some highways.

Out west, in California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, truck speeds are 5 to 15 mph lower than those of cars. Outside that region, only Arkansas, Indiana and Michigan still run split limits on their fastest roads.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says the safest highways are the ones where everyone moves at the same pace. OOIDA does not push a set number – just one speed for all.

Idaho

An Idaho lawmaker wants to take the brakes off big rigs.

Since 1998, state law has forced large trucks to run slower than cars on non-urban interstates. While cars travel at 75 or even 80 mph, trucks are stuck at 70 mph. In cities, trucks are capped at 65 mph.

In Idaho, large trucks are defined as having five or more axles and weighing over 26,000 pounds.

H664 would scrap the slower truck speed and let rigs roll at the same posted limit as everyone else.

Rep. Doug Pickett, R-Oakley, says split speed limits don’t make roads safer – they make them chaotic.

He calls it “traffic turbulence.” When cars and trucks move at different speeds, they bunch up, weave and interact more. That raises crash risks.

A fiscal note on the bill says a 10-mph speed gap can spike interactions up to 227%.

The bill now sits in the House Transportation and Defense Committee.

Missouri

In Missouri, lawmakers want to press the gas.

Right now, cars and trucks are capped at 70 mph. The Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee voted to advance a bill that would bump the speed limit to 75 mph on rural interstates and highways.

The Missouri Department of Transportation says the state has 512 rural interstate speed limit signs. A fiscal analysis estimates that changing them would cost $384,000.

Sen. Jamie Burger, R-Benton, isn’t buying it. He said the only thing that needs to be done is to slap a “5” over the “0” and call it done.

MoDOT opposes the higher speed. The agency said speeding is the leading cause of traffic crashes.

Burger pushed back.

“When I travel down to Memphis, I drive 80 miles in the state of Missouri to hit the Arkansas line. Then I drive 65 miles in the state of Arkansas,” Burger said. “I don’t see any more wrecks along the state of Arkansas’ highways than I do the state of Missouri’s highways. And their speed limit is 75.”

He also argued that drivers creeping at 60 mph in the left lane pose more danger than those cruising at 75 mph.

SB1408 awaits further House consideration.

Georgia

In Georgia, lawmakers are taking aim at slow traffic.

State law already bans “slow pokes” from clogging the far-left lane of interstates.

HB809 would raise the minimum speed limit on highways with a posted speed limit of 65 mph or higher from 40 to 50 mph.

The House Motor Vehicles Committee met last week to discuss the bill.

Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, says the top speed has climbed over the years – from 55 to 70 mph – but the minimum hasn’t budged.

That wide gap, he says, is causing deadly rear-end crashes.

“The concern that I have … is that we have such a high differential between maximum speed and minimum speed,” he said. “I want to limit the number of rear-end crashes.”

Opponents say the higher minimum could hurt seniors and new drivers.

The bill remains in committee.