Here in the Lone Star State, highways are kind of our thing. You won’t find speed limits this high in any other state. I-35 and I-14 don’t quite match up to Highway 130-but you can still drive pretty fast around the Killeen area.
You might be interested in knowing how these speed limits affect safety. Faster driving leads to a higher chance of fatal accidents.
Highway deaths continue to rise
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently released some statistics that might make you nervous about highway driving. Roadway deaths go up 8.5% for every 5-mile-per-hour increase in the speed limit. Considering the fact that the speed limit of most roads used to be as low as 55 miles per hour, our 70, 80 and even 85 miles per hour speed limits in Texas pose serious safety concerns.
The IIHS study shows that if the speed limits had not increased so much since the 1990s, driving deaths would have been drastically lower. Lower speed limits could have prevented about 1,900 deaths in just the year 2017.
Going over the speed limit is not worth it
Some critics say that speeding reduces time spent driving enough to be worth the risk. But the IIHS study says otherwise. Besides revealing the danger, the study also makes it clear that going faster does not save that much time.
If you were to drive on a 100-mile trip, you would at most save six and a half minutes for every 5 mph over the limit you go. A few minutes are not worth the significant increase in the chance of an accident.
If you are driving on one of the Texas roads that allows you to get up to even 85 miles per hour, you should consider the higher danger that comes with it. Getting to your destination a little bit earlier isn’t as important as getting there in one piece.