EDITORIAL: Speed up for safety
Michigan's proposed speed limit increase will provide safer driving conditions
Michigan could follow other states in raising the speed limit to 80 mph along some stretches of road.
Idaho, Utah, Texas and Wyoming have all enacted legislation that raised the legal speed limit to 80 mph on certain roads. In Michigan, House Bill 5964 would allow the Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan State Police to designate stretches of road as "rural limited access freeways."
Those freeways would be eligible for the speed increase, and all of them would need to be designated within a year of the law's passing. The bill package has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
We applaud Michigan's step to follow other states with this bill. We urge lawmakers not to impede the bill's progress and encourage students to support the package.
Some might argue that increasing the speed limit in some areas will create more dangerous driving conditions. Studies conducted by Michigan State Police revealed drivers are actually safest when traveling the speed at which 85 percent of traffic is moving.
This 85th percentile speed is generally five to 10 mph above the average speed of traffic. Increasing the speed limit to the point at which most people are already driving will ensure a smooth flow of traffic and fewer speeding tickets.
Further, Michigan State Police will still be just as present on freeways to enforce safety laws and ticket those who are not driving safely.
State Rep. Brad Jacobson, R-Oxford, helped introduce the bill. He cited a portion of highway US-127 between Jackson and Lansing, lengths of I-75 north of Bay City and a stretch of I-69 between Lansing and Port Huron as examples of roads that could be eligible for rural limited access freeways.
For the hundreds of students who use these roads to commute between school and home, their travel time would be significantly reduced. They would also be at a lower risk of getting into an accident or being ticketed.
Examples set by other states have reinforced the fact that the bill will make driving safer. In Utah especially, where the law has been in place long enough to complete follow-up studies, there is proof that increasing the speed limit can be successful.
Studies found there was a 20 percent drop in drivers exceeding the speed limit in Utah. They also found an 11 to 20 percent drop in speed-related accidents on stretches of highway affected by the law.
Michigan lawmakers have already taken one step in the right direction by putting a proposal on the May 5 ballot to increase money for road repair. We view House Bill 5964 as another positive step and encourage CMU students and community members to support it with their own safety in mind.
