Speed increases coming to Texas highways

Some of the major highways in Texas saw speed limits fall from 65 to 60 back in 2001. A new ruling is going to do away with those changes. At the time, the changes were made to reduce the impact of exhaust on the atmosphere. Vehicles traveling at 70 MPH were shown to create a lot more pollution than those going at slower speeds.

However, officials now say that technology has changed dramatically since 2001, so there is no more need for the low limits. They say that emissions are not expected to be altered that much because of control systems that are built into all of the new vehicles. On top of that, they are going to do work to increase the flow of traffic on these roads, so that should limit congestion, which causes a lot of pollution. This could make it so that there is no impact to the environment, even though drivers are now able to go faster.

As expected, many drivers are happy to see this change, just wanting to get to their destinations sooner. However, others say that it could be dangerous, citing that more accidents may occur if the limits are raised.

However, an official says that the roads are actually more dangerous right now because most drivers simply break the limit and drive closer to 70 MPH. Other drivers who go 55 or 60 cause congestion, hold back the flow of traffic and even cause truck accidents, despite the fact that they are following the laws. Higher limits may help to reduce these accidents.

Whenever truck accidents occur and there is a personal injury case involved, the driver who was operating his or her vehicle within the constraints of the law, who was hurt because of what the other drivers did, has a right to seek compensation since his or her basic rights to safety and health were violated.

Source: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, “Higher Speed Limits Expected Along North Texas Highways” Ken Kalthoff, Mar. 14, 2014