Increasing the speed limit for passing cars is costly, expert says
He was just driving the way that he’d been taught and got tagged, explained Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia.
“I got a speeding ticket for simply doing exactly what we were taught years ago,” he told a House transportation committee today (Feb. 25).
Rukavina presented a bill to the committee that would allow motorists to drive ten miles an hour over the speed limit when in the act of passing another car.
“I think it’s a safety issue,” Rukavina agrued.
The safest way to pass another car was to do it quickly, he spoke of drivers’ ed lessons of lore.
But MnDOT state traffic engineer Sue Groth opined that the proposal was expensive and perhaps dangerous.
Groth expressed concern that upping the speed limit for passing could contribute to aggressive driving. In 28 percent of fatal crashes, excessive speed is judged a contributing factor, she said.
And two-land highways in Greater Minnesota are already some of the most dangerous highways in the state, she opined.
Beyond this, adopting the law would cost MnDOT $3 million to $4 million, she said.
That’s because it could force the transportation department to regauge No Passing zones on state highways — there are as many as 10,000 of these zones, she explained.
The reason this may need to be redone, sbe explained, was because additional speed demands greater lengths for stopping.
No Passing zones would need to be adjusted about 200 feet on each end, said Groth.
Signs would need to be moved. New holes dug, she explained.
But a number of lawmakers didn’t buy the explanation, and argued what Rukavina wanted was exactly the way people drove now anyway.
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, argued rather requiring longer zones, upping the speed limit would require shorter ones — cars would pass cars more quickly.
“I don’t know where the logic is in this,” said Rukavina of the engineer’s arguments.
But a State Patrol official indicated their department did not like the proposed change of law because a speeding motorist could argue when pulled over that they were just preparing to pass another car, or just did.
The committee passed the bill, which was another House committee pit stop.
The real reason law enforcement and others didn’t like his bill, Rukavina argued, was because these agencies have become dependent on fines for funding.
That’s because the state lacks a fair tax system, he opined.
I’d sooner think 15mph over the posted limit would be closer to the average passing speed.
As far as agressive driving, maybe they should pass a law requiring rubber baby buggy bumpers on all vehicles. Have you ever gotten behind a car doing 45 mph in a 55 mph zone on a Friday of a holiday weekend when just before, everyone was doing 60 mph. Maybe everybody could than do a NASCAR and push them up to speed, because there usually isn’t enought room between cars to pass unless you have a helicopter.