By David Eggert
Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — Michigan motorists could drive faster on rural highways under bills that won final approval Tuesday in the Legislature, which narrowly backed a 75 mph speed limit on 600 miles of freeway and a 65 mph limit on 900 miles of other roads.
Within a year, the limits would rise from 70 mph to 75 mph and from 55 mph to 65 mph if a safety study shows it is OK and the new limit is what no more than 15 percent of drivers already are exceeding. The limits could rise on about 15 percent of Michigan’s nearly 9,700 miles of I-, U.S.- and M-numbered highways.
Republican Rep. Brad Jacobsen of Oxford, who sponsored the main bill that cleared the GOP-led House 57-51, said it makes sense to base speed limits on the 85th percentile standard — where 85 percent of motorists currently are currently driving 75 mph or 65 mph anyway on the affected roads.
“They encourage more drivers to travel at about the same speed, which has been shown to reduce the likelihood of crashes,” he said. “Rational speed limits make more sense to the vast majority of drivers because they are neither unrealistically low nor high, thus they are largely self-enforcing.”
Gov. Rick Snyder has not said much publicly about the legislation, deferring to his agencies. The Michigan State Police has no public safety concerns while the state Department of Transportation is neutral.
Seventeen states authorize 75 mph or higher speed limits, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Other bills sent to Snyder would reduce some speeding penalties that can affect drivers’ licenses and their insurance premiums.
Democratic Rep. Marilyn Lane of Fraser said she voted against the bills because “the emphasis should be placed on the safety of the roads by fixing them first before we decide we want to start going faster on them.”
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