Utah Finds Drivers Slow Down When Speed Limits Rises To 80 MPH

yes, especially since we are also not driving in cars from the 60s and 70s anymore, when the 55mph limit was introduced. Cars are more efficient, more aerodynamic and safer in general...

I definitely agree with you.

I wish the states were smarter when it came to speed limits. In the part of CT I live in, the limits have been stuck on 55mph, even when traffic is usually driving 70 to 80mph. I wonder if they keep it artificially low due to stupidity or the revenue speed tickets bring in.

Also, why don't more highways have flexible speed limits? Here in CT for example, there are traffic video cameras have couple of miles so it is no problem for monitoring traffic flow. I can see having lower limits at rush hour (55mph for example) but why not up it to 65 or 75 when traffic is light (late at night or early on the weekend mornings). As bad as NJ is, the Jersey Turnpike has changeable limits.

yes, I've seen those electronic speed limit signs that changes with the flow of traffic. I too live in CT (southwest CT) and the comfortable speeds for driving when there are no traffic is about 70-80. Generally, people do not go beyond that, with exceptions of a few.

Badgewhore: You are right, and also there is a psychological factor for that: Whe you drive slow, you do not pay attention to your driving, instead of that you pay attention to your landscape or anything else. When you drive fast, you are aware that any small gap in your attention can become in an accident..so you pay more attention to your driving and that is the reason less accidents when speed limits are rised. When Germany did an attempt to put speed limits on the autobhans the results was catastrophic, so they delete the speed limits and everythig start to work fine again. In US there are good roads and streets, in my country I feel that we are better drivers that in any other country cause we drive fast and there are a lot of holes that you have to dodge at high speed, so you are always focus, if not you'll have an accident or you'll spend a lot of money in repairs of your car.

i fully agree.

just finished reading the book "Traffic" which busts a lot of myths. including what's "dangerous" and "safe." a lot of times, what on the surface MAY SEEM unsafe, is actually safer, with less crashes. mainly because it forces people to PAY ATTENTION.

conversely, over-engineering "for safety" can at times INCREASE accident rates on some roads.

HSCenterconsole: Your idea is brilliant. With all cheap current technology the only expense will be to put digital signals. When trafic is light, the system should be able to rise the speed limit from a remote location with a controler monitoring the highways or even small drones. May be I am going too far but there is the technology.

I can agree with HSCenterconsole. I live in CT too and commute from Branford to Norwalk everyday. I use 95 over the Q which is a disaster in itself being replaced finally. Ever go over a blind curve bridge? That being said the parkway Rte. 15 is easy to go fast on except for deer as there is no fencing blocking them from coming to the road.

I think CT is hard pressed to raise the limit because of how congested the roads along the shoreline are. Up north on 84 and 91 they should be raised again.

I live and work in Fairfield County. The problem with that stretch along 95 (besides the heavy volume) is that each town has at least four exits (with about 200 yards between each one it seems). We all use 95 as a local road. Closing exits and raising the speed limit to at least 65 would help keep things moving I think and return 95 to being more of an "INTERSTATE" highway.

The 55 limit is insane as well. Some people are driving 50mph while others are doing 80mph. Talk about a dangerous difference. I think higher limits would encourage traffic to move along at the same pace more.

Take Milford for example, we own exits 34-40 which is probably the winner for most exits in a town on 95. Once you get past New Haven the exits space out more like they should and up near New London and into RI, they are back to normal. There really is no fix for 95 in the SE part of the state as you get closer to NYC and there is no more room for expansion of the highway, although going double decker could pose viable given future predictions of traffic flow.

I'm just really hopeful that the new New Haven Bridge is worth it. They tried to build the drawbridge to help ease some traffic but that bridge is used .1% of the time, maybe.

As for drivers on the road. I think that at the very least instead of speeding the State Police should focus more on a few things, namely:
1) People who do not stay right except to pass. These people need to move when faster traffic is coming behind them, instead of being their own enforcers and making everyone slow down to what they want to do.

2) Slow drivers. If you are doing 50 in the fast lane, or 40 in the slow lane, these people need to be addressed. It causes other drivers to pass on the right and being potential problems for those other lanes, i.e. irradic(sp?) driving.

3) Trucks. They all seem to want to do 70-80 and if anyone should be sticking to speed limits or staying at 65 or less it is them. I don't see enough of them being pulled over for this, nor do I see them leaving proper spacing as they constantly ride motorists bumpers and pass on the right. Them along with the Fung-Wa casino buses that do 85 like nuts.

And to add to you guys, it is not like there are only 2 lanes on 95. If the people wants to drive slower, then they still have the middle lanes (seeing how they are expanding most sections, like the Darien area to 4 lanes.

I have also noticed that CT has one of the worst local area traffic light systems. Almost every i95 off ramp has a red light, from Greenwich to Westport, and those lights are not very efficient. They hold traffic back when there are little to no traffic on the crossroads, which backs vehicles up onto the highway. They should come up with a more efficient way.

In Texas and Oklahoma with literally 50 miles between any town it makes sense to ramp it up to 75 and 80. The main reason speeds are lowered in some stretches is due to merging traffic from on/off ramps in towns and cities. Other than that it is wide open on decent highways.

IMO, 80-85 mph is about ideal cruising speed when traveling in rural areas for extended mile trips (think 300+ miles). You make good time, net reasonable MPG and are able to adjust to much slower and faster traffic safely. When traveling in rural areas you may encounter vehicles traveling as slow as 50 as well as the rare vehicle traveling in excess of 100mph.

If the speed limit were unlimited, sure, I'd travel at 100+ mph on a few trips, but then once the novelty wore off, I'd choose a reasonable speed around 85mph, depending on conditions.

Cops can make quota every month if they just bust people with turning or changing lanes without using their signals.

I once rode with a guy who NEVER used turn signals except in heavy intersections. I had to ride with him for a total of 20+ hours and he never got pulled over. Also, he frequently went way over the speed limit and We never got pulled over at all. I thought it was pretty funny actually.

Welcome to Utah, drive faster.