LEGISLATURE MAY UP SPEED LIMIT TO 80 ON WV 4-LANES

(01/11/2018)

With the 2018 Legislative Session back at work at the West Virginia Capitol, a bill introduced would increase the speed limit on the interstate and other four-lane highways. One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Mark Maynard, says he feels drivers can maintain 80 mph safely in areas. Just over 560 miles of interstate crosses West Virginia, and this new bill could "establish a speed limit of 80 mph on interstate highways" along with other "four-lane limited access highways." "If we increase it by 10 mph then how fast are people really going to be going?" asked Chrissy Barry heading to Huntington. "And what's going to be OK in their mind?" One issue that folks kept bringing up in conversation, is there a link between higher speeds and more crashes? In Wisconsin, speed limits were raised to 70, that state reporting a 37 percent jump in fatal interstate crashes. Last November, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported a 24 percent increase in total crashes once speed limits were set at 70.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001