Governor Bob has managed to fast track a bill which ups the speed limit in rural and low population areas to the big 70. Both the House & Senate groups signed off on the new legislature with no complaint, and once the bills change houses for final review, they can land on the Governors desk for signature.
Virginia becomes the 33 state to impose 70 as a maximum, with 13 others allowing for up to 75 mph, and a few areas of Texas allowing up to 80.
McDonnell’s statement that “This slight increase in our speed limit will be safe for motorists and help get Virginians to their destinations a little quicker each day” couldn’t be more accurate apparently. While many (this writer included) equate increased speed with a higher frequency and fatality rate in accidents, the inverse is apparently true. For the brief period of time during which Montana enacted a no posted maximum speed on certain roads, accidents and fatalities reached record low numbers. This also appears to hold true along the unlimited stretches of the Autobahn in Germany.
While the speed increase is certainly a step in the right direction, most of the frustration in daily driving situations appears to center around individuals failing to maintain a minimum speed around town. Perhaps posting, and enforcing, minimum speeds would decrease traffic congestion within the city. [Info] [Photo Credits]
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- Are Virginia Tax Payers Subsidizing Bob McDonnell’s Fred Thompson campaigning?
So, does this mean I just keep going 80 around these parts, or can I edge up to 85 now?
in VA, reckless driving is either (a) driving 20+ mph over the posted speed limit or (b) driving in excess of 80mph regardless of the posted speed limit. so 85mph will still land you a pretty hefty ticket despite the higher limits on some highways.
also, driving too fast for road conditions will also nab you a reckless charge. e.g. it may be 70mph on some interstates now, but if you do 70mph in a downpour or on icy roads, you may end up with blue lights in your rear-view.
Interesting: I was not aware that over 80 was immediately reckless. With 80 being 15 over the current posted limit, I’ve always felt safe from reckless charges at that speed. Manual VR6 Jetta FTW.
Drove through Virginia in the 55 days. At 69mph. A lovely officer let me know that had I been going 70, it would have been an automatic reckless driving charge. Pretty sure I was going 70 or more. Out of state plates & youth caught me a break, I think. Anyway, the plus 15mph thing has been around for decades.
be careful some bitch in a white nissan murano with a stupid vanity plate doesn’t drive into the driver’s side corner of your jetta’s bumper. it sends the entire hood through the passenger side. and then your lovely jetta is totaled & she’s standing there bitching about a scratch on her bumper.
Orchid, that was mighty… specific. And a little bitter?
very very very bitter.
I too am wondering if perhaps the “anything over 80″ reckless charge may need to be re-written given current circumstances. It seems inappropriate for a 10 MPH increase to result in the possibility of a reckless driving charge.
“It seems inappropriate for a 10 MPH increase to result in the possibility of a reckless driving charge.”
I think you mean it sounds ‘lucrative’.
it seems*
ftw, hangover.
But I-85 is already 70 now, at least from S. Hill to the NC line that I know of.
So what exactly does the law currently say that they’re trying so feverishly to change?