The Wall Street Journal has a report on all the states, including Indiana, that have raised speed limits recently. Officials are finally starting to realize that there is a "flow of traffic" speed that the law has to acknowledge:
But lawmakers in Texas, Michigan and other states say that raising speed limits will make roads safer by restoring credibility to speed-limit signs and making driving speeds more uniform. While transportation engineers acknowledge that raising speed limits hurts fuel efficiency, they contend that careful studies of traffic flow and driver behavior show that many speed limits are actually too low. Most drivers who exceed these low speed limits are doing it safely. "In Texas, they are already going [80 mph] anyway," says Carlos Lopez, director of traffic operations at the Texas Department of Transportation. "People are driving where they feel comfortable."
Naturally, Texas has to top everybody. It's 80-mph limit is the highest in the nation.
Comments
Perhaps in West Texas, ... around East and Central Texas, where I drive all the time, the "flow" of traffic seems to be 74 or 75 - the posted speed limit on interstate type roads is still 70. (And, we are one of the few states, I think, that posts an "after dark" speed limit that's lower than the normal one, ... it drops to 65)
Vehicle and tire suitability for higher speed vary widely, and this affect people's perceptions.
For a while I owned small cars with 13-14 inch tires -- 70-75 mph can feel nearly as fast as the car can safely go, and those little tires can whine loudly enough to require shouting to communicate inside. With worn, cheap or retread tires, or out-of-balance rims, you can begin to think at 70 that you're tearing along at unsafe speed (which you may be for your car).
I've also owned a Supra Twin Turbo and more recently a Grand Prix with 16-17 inch tires, which, I've rediscovered, take the stress and noise right out of higher speeds, even when not perfectly tuned.
In the Supra you couldn't rely on driving feel because 85-90 mph was as effortless and stable as 65 on Z-rated tires. Cruise control was in order.
I'm now a believer in big tires and firm suspension at any speed, and a believer that the flow of traffic philosophy works along with a reasonable speed limit, if everyone obeys the rules of the road, which were written to account for vehicles of various levels of power, performance and maintenance.
I am reminded of the old commercial where the driver in front is freaking out like Dennis Weaver in DUEL at a car he thinks is plaguing him by inexorably overtaking to pass, while the couple overtaking in the car behind are serenely and obliviously just enjoying their drive.