Say goodbye to nighttime speed limits!
AMARILLO, TEXAS -- This weekend, Texas got the green light.
Governor Perry signed a bill into law that will soon let you drive faster.
"The law also allows for higher speed limits in some areas that are deemed safe for those speed limits and there won't be any changes in speed limits at least around the Panhandle until we've had opportunity to traffic studies to determine whether it can be increased safely", says TxDOT's Public Information Officer, Paul Braun.
A timeline for those increases won't be releases until an implementation plan is put into place and numerous safety tests are done. Another change for Texas drivers -- no more nighttime speed limits! But that won't go into effect until September 1st of this year.
Now, you might be wondering, is a speed limit increase safe?
Braun reassures us saying "safety is the number one concern when we do these speed studies and we will not increase the speed limit on a roadway that we don't think is safe to increase that speed limit."
Even researchers say an increase in speed won't necessarily mean more accidents.
"There's no correlation necessarily between an increase in speed limit and the increased frequency of crashes. The relationship is between increased speed limit and the severity of those crashes" says Research Specialist for Texas Transportation Institute, Bernie Fette.
The Department of Transportation will present their implementation plan to the commission next week for approval. They will then be able to move forward in choosing which roads they will conduct speed studies on before raising the limit.
No changes just yet, so the standards remain in place: buckle up, two hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
