
According to TheNewspaper, the Utah Department of Transportation, which raised speed limits to 80 miles per hour on certain stretches of I-15, reported no downside to the experimental increase.
The UDOT selected stretches of road to increase the speed limit by five miles per hour based on crash histories. After watching and evaluating these roads, they discovered very little increase in actual speed.
“With the speed limit posted at 75 MPH, 85th percentile speeds measured between 81 and 85 MPH -- barely different from the 83 to 85 MPH speeds under the higher 80 MPH limit. The 85th percentile speed represents the speed at which 85 percent of free-flowing traffic feels is the safest. Engineers have determined that the greatest safety can be achieved when speed limits match the 85th percentile speed.”
So far, the UDOT is declaring the experiment a success, and will continue to monitor the interstate, meanwhile evaluating the future of other roads.
We are also pleased by this news, and hope to see this program expand to other parts of the country that could benefit from such experiments. We also want to know what you think. Would you support this experiment on your highways? Talk about it in comments.