Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/11/1129.asp

5/15/2006

Texas Prepares to Raise Top Speed Limit to 80 MPH
America's top legal speed could rise as Texas considers speed limit increase to 80 MPH.

The top legal speed on American highways could rise from 75 to 80 miles per hour after an meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission on May 25. The commission is expected to discuss an increase in the speed limit on portions of Interstate Highways 10 and 20 through West Texas. Currently, the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming have 75 MPH speed limits.

Last June, Governor Rick Perry had signed into law legislation unanimously passed that authorized an 80 MPH limit on the two Texas interstates. The Texas Department of Transportation thus far has declined to raise the limit, saying it needed more time to study the issue. The agency has since verified that the 85th percentile speed of traffic on I-10 and I-20 is 79 MPH.