State Wants To Set Own Speeds But Officials Say It’s Too Early To Say Whether Limits Will Rise

Washington should be making its own decisions about how fast its residents drive, state officials said Wednesday.

But it is too early to say whether Washington would raise freeway speed limits if Congress drops them in the National Highway System bill.

The U.S. Senate voted 65-35 Tuesday to drop the federal maximum speed limit for automobiles of 55 mph on most highways and 65 mph on rural interstates.

The Senate wrestled with other portions of the bill Wednesday. The measure still faces action by the House.

“I strongly believe that states are in far better shape to set their own speed limits … than an arbitrary limit set by people back East,” state Rep. Karen Schmidt, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, told The Olympian.

The state Department of Transportation, the Legislature, the governor, the state Traffic Safety Commission and the Washington State Patrol would all have a role in making the decision.

“It’s a long way from passage. Presuming it gets through, we still have a number of hoops to jump through,” state Transportation Secretary Sid Morrison said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

Sen. Mike Heavey, D-Seattle, vice chairman of the state Senate Transportation Committee, said he anticipates some discussion on whether to raise speed limits around cities.

“I can see it coming in for debate for the portion between Everett and Olympia,” he said, referring to Interstate 5, and on Interstate 90 “from North Bend to Seattle.”

Less congested freeway sections - east of Issaquah, north of Everett and south of Olympia, for example - would also be at issue, Heavey said.

But increasing speed limits can lead to an increase in traffic fatalities, the state patrol and the Traffic Safety Commission said.

“The higher your speed, the greater your likelihood of being involved in a fatal collision,” said Jonna VanDyk, spokeswoman for the traffic safety commission.