Need for Speed? Missouri Considering 75 mph Rural Speed Limit

A bill, HB295, in the Missouri State Legislature would raise rural speed limits, making the state the latest in a group to raise speed limits as traffic fatalities on highways are decreasing.

1 minute read

January 4, 2015, 11:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"State Rep. Mike Kelley has introduced a measure seeking to increase the top speed on Missouri’s rural interstates and freeways to 75 mph," reports Ken Leiser.

According to Leiser's coverage, "Kelley, R-Lamar, said 17 other states — including neighboring Oklahoma and Kansas — already allow people to scoot along rural interstates at 75 mph or higher, and he thinks Missouri could handle the increase."

Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is quoted in the story with a dissenting take on the trend of states adopting higher speed limits: "States have been falling over themselves to raise speed limits….No state legislator I am aware of has introduced companion legislation to repeal the law of physics."

The article mentions a few of the other considerations on the table when considering a change of speed limit, including fuel consumption, traffic fatalities on highways, and de facto speed limits.

Friday, January 2, 2015 in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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