Texas will abolish all night and truck speed limits beginning today, and all traffic in the state will have the same speed limit on state highways. State officials said there are thousands of night and truck speed limit signs, so it will be some time before all the old speed signs can be replaced, although the repeal of the night and truck speed limits has officially taken effect.
“It's going to take several months to get all those signs down but we should begin that process on Sept. 1,” Dianah Ascencio, Texas Dept. of Transportation Public Information Officer, told Fox 34 News, Lubbock.
Lawmakers also increased the state’s maximum speed limit to 85, the fastest in the nation, on roadways that are designed to carry high-volume or high-speed traffic. Both engineering and traffic studies must be done before motorists are given a green light to those increased speeds.
As the speed limits go up, so do concerns for safety. Dept. of Public Safety Corporal John Gonzalez said it’s a matter of driver responsibility and common sense.
“The increase of injury or fatal crashes is there, so we hope that people out there as far as driving the roadways will use a little common sense when they’re driving at night,” Gonzalez said.
Truckers believe the new speed limits will actually promote safety on the highway since now all vehicles will be traveling at the same speed.
“Higher speeds make it safer, you know. Kind of keep everybody moving at the same speed instead of fighting with everybody else,” trucker Mark Lawler told Fox 34 News.
