Speed Limit May Hit 70 Mph In Some Spots If Approved By Clinton, Bill Would Allow Many To Drive Without Risk Of A Ticket

Drivers soon may have a chance to cut a few minutes off trips across Washington and Idaho.

Or, they could drive the same speed most of them do now, but without risk of a ticket.

Ignoring arguments that faster speeds mean more accidents, both houses of Congress in recent weeks have approved a bill to erase the federal speed limit.

Advocates say states, not the federal government, should set the top speed for highways within their boundaries. Besides, they note, most drivers ignore speed limits, an indication they should be raised.

“Speeds should be based on highway design and the … prevailing traffic speed,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents 30,000 truck drivers.

President Clinton is expected to sign the bill, which frees up $6.5 billion for highway work. Ten days later, states could take down the signs designating 65 mph as the top speed on rural stretches of interstate and 55 mph as the limit on other highways.

In Montana, where the fine for speeding is $5, the change will happen as soon as possible. The state has a law eliminating daytime speed limits as soon as Congress allows.

The process will take longer in Idaho and Washington.

Idaho law gives the state Transportation Board authority to set speeds, but no higher than 65 mph. It would take an act of the Legislature to set speeds any higher than that, said Jeff Stratten, Department of Transportation spokesman.

Stratten said the limit was 70 mph on 969 miles of Idaho roads before 1974, when Congress set the top speed at 55 mph nationwide. Engineers are studying Idaho’s highways to determine where limits should be raised.

“Almost every mile of interstate is designed for speeds of 70 mph-plus,” but other state and federal highways may not be able to handle such high speeds, Stratten said.

Washington Transportation Secretary Sid Morrison, who has authority to raise speed limits, has asked the State Patrol, Traffic Safety Commission and other agencies for advice.

As in Idaho, Department of Transportation engineers are studying roads to determine how fast they can carry cars.

“There are some places that are obvious, where there may be changes pretty quickly,” said Morrison.

Remote stretches of Interstate 90 in central and Eastern Washington are among those obvious places, where the speed limit for passenger cars could increase to 70 mph within a few days of the president approving the bill, Morrison said.

Other areas require more study.

Federal studies show states can raise or lower their highway speed limits as much as 20 mph without changing the speeds people drive, said Morrison, whose goal is to set the limit to match the speed of most drivers.

“We think if we do this judiciously and thoughtfully, we can make some drivers legal and still not have any appreciable increase in fatalities,” he said.

Raising the limit from 65 mph to 70 mph on Interstate 90 would shave 17 minutes off the 257-mile trip between Spokane and North Bend, Wash. Someone driving the 80 miles between Ritzville and Pasco would save about 19 minutes if the limit on U.S. Highway 395 increased from 55 mph to 70 mph.

Study after study links speed with danger, said Steve Lind, legislative liaison for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. But the commissioners “understand that there’s going to be a lot of pressure from drivers out there to raise the speed limits,” he said.

The commission may suggest linking speed limits not just to road engineering and traffic counts but also to drivers’ safety habits, said Lind. For instance, the state could raise the speed limit only on stretches of highway where seat-belt use exceeds the state average of 83 percent.

The state also could set different limits for day and night driving, and for trucks and cars. In Washington, it would require legislative action to raise the speed limit for commercial trucks above 65 mph.

“We won’t pursue that, but the trucking industry might choose to,” said Morrison.

Spencer, of the truckers’ association, said it doesn’t make sense to force commercial drivers to go slower than everyone else. He cited studies that show differential speeds cause more rear-end accidents and side-swipes.

“Your highways will always be safer if you’ve got vehicles traveling at the same speeds,” he said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SPEED DIAL US President Clinton is expected to sign a bill letting states set their own speed limits. We’d like to know what you think of the idea. Maybe there are some highways in Idaho and Washington where you feel speeds should not be limited and others where the limit already is too high. What limits would you suggest for the highways you drive? To give your opinion, use a Touch-Tone phone to call The Spokesman-Review’s Cityline at (509) 458-8800 in Washington or (208) 765-8811 in Idaho. Press extension 9865. Cityline is free, but normal long-distance tolls to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene apply. We’ll run a follow-up story based on callers’ comments. Be sure and include your name and telephone number in case a reporter needs to contact you.