Vivvo CMS 4.1 PRI: Public Radio International http://www.pri.org/ &copy;2010 Spoonlabs d.o.o. PRI: Public Radio International http://www.pri.org/files.php?file=rss_682409203.gif http://www.pri.org/ Texas toll road debuts new 85 mph speed limit -- tops in the land http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/government/texas-toll-road-debuts-new-85-mph-speed-limit-tops-in-the-land-11444.html Government Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:54:00 -0500 Drivers in Texas headed from Austin to San Antonio have a choice: take the free Interstate Highway 35 at 75 mph or jump on the new, privately operated toll road at 85 mph. But some folks have raised eyebrows over how that speed limit was set -- and what the state got for setting the highest speed limit its ever granted. Duke Ganote http://zoominations.wordpress.com Government Wed, 12 Sep 2012 18:17:54 -0500 WONDERFUL idea in Texas — and elsewhere! Safety features like wide medians and overpasses give rural interstates an impressive safety record. For example, Texas’ interstate fatality rate of 1.25 was better than all other Texas rural roads, which had rates up to 4.95 deaths per 100 million travel miles in 2009.<br /> <br /> Unsurprisingly, the safety situation is comparable in Germany — even though Germany is the “crossroads of Europe” — even though relatively-untrained American drivers stationed in Germany do well — even though Germany has transitioned the former East Germany’s Soviet-style speed zoning and enforcement into Western standards.<br /> <br /> Hand-wringing and radargun-slinging DON’T improve traffic safety. Read it for yourself: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2009/fi30.cfm<br /> http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-traffic-safety-reunification-2006.pdf<br /> <br /> Read more: http://rumors.automobilemag.com/new-texas-toll-road-has-85-mph-speed-limit-good-idea-169147.html#ixzz26Ib9Yc9F PRI: Public Radio International