223rem > wrote in
:

> A very small step in the right
> direction.
>
> http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/221474-2711-009.html
>
> Note who opposed the bill. What bull****.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> 70 mph limit zips out of Senate
> Indiana House leaders say bill to allow faster speed on interstates
> has good chance of becoming law.
>
> The road ahead
>
> Senate Bill 217, which would raise the speed limit on parts of some
> Indiana interstates to 70 mph, has passed the Senate. Here's what's
> next: • The bill likely will be assigned to the House Roads and
> Transportation Committee, which will decide whether to recommend it
> for a full House vote. • If the House approves the legislation, it
> would be sent to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has pledged to sign it.
> Change would take effect July 1.
>
>
>
> By Theodore Kim
>
> February 11, 2005
>
>
> The Indiana Senate on Thursday approved legislation to raise the speed
> limit on rural interstates to 70 mph, and a key House leader said the
> bill has a firm chance of becoming law.
>
> Though the Senate has thwarted similar efforts in the past, the bill
> passed this time on a 34-15 vote; 26 votes were needed.
>
> That approval came over the objections of the insurance industry and
> some lawmakers who argued the higher limit would compromise driver
> safety, boost car insurance premiums and encourage motorists to exceed
> even the higher speed.
>
> Sen. Gregory D. Server, R-Evansville, the bill's chief sponsor, said
> the higher limit would bring the law closer to the actual speeds at
> which motorists are driving.
>
> "We're just trying to be realistic," Server said after the vote. "Our
> highways and cars are designed for this type of speed. People are
> driving at this speed now."
>
> Server's legislation, Senate Bill 217, would increase the speed limit
> along stretches of interstate in sparsely populated areas of Indiana
> to 70 mph from 65 mph. The speed limit for trucks on those same
> stretches would rise to 65 mph from 60 mph. If approved, the change
> would take effect July 1.
>
> Interstate speed limits would not change in denser communities of more
> than 50,000 people, such as the Indianapolis area. Rather, the bill
> targets interstates in open rural areas -- for instance, parts of I-65
> between Indianapolis and Chicago -- designed to handle elevated
> speeds.
>
> The legislation would make Indiana the 30th state since 1995 to boost
> interstate speed limits to at least 70 mph, according to federal
> statistics. In 1995, Congress moved to abolish the federal speed limit
> of 55 mph, a conservation measure enacted during the 1970s' energy
> crisis.
>
> Server's proposal now advances to the House, where Speaker Brian
> Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he supports the legislation.
>
> Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels also has pledged to sign the bill should
> it reach his desk.
>
> Indiana last raised its interstate speed limit in 1987, from 55 mph to
> 65 mph, after Congress exempted rural stretches of interstate from the
> federal limit.
>
> Insurance companies and highway safety advocates are expected to
> continue to strenuously oppose the measure in the House. Those critics
> point to an array of evidence showing that higher interstate speed
> limits can lead to more fatalities.
>
> Fatal interstate accidents in states that have raised speed limits
> from 65 mph to at least 70 mph rose by an average of 15 percent,
> according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an advocacy
> group based in Arlington, Va. The group is funded by auto insurers.

What they do not say is that miles driven increased too.
The rate of deaths per 100K miles driven,IIRC,dropped.

Can't trust them insurance companies.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net