Speed Limit Roulette Nw Drivers Confused By Changes In Speed Laws

This is not the Indy 500, the Grand Prix or even the Cannonball Run.

It’s a highway in Montana.

But no matter how often Montana Highway Patrol officer Roman Zylawy tells drivers, he usually hears the same excuse.

“I thought there was no speed limit,” said the Washington man Zylawy ticketed for driving 98 mph on Interstate 90. “I thought it was like the autobahn.”

Drivers traveling from Spokane into Montana on I-90 now zip through four different speed zones - most of which have changed in recent months. And more changes are in store this spring when Idaho completes its speed limit changes.

But as speed signs shuffle like a deck of cards, some drivers have been left confused, some fuming and others downright scared.

In Montana, officers chase speeders who think they can drive as fast as they want. It’s not unusual to see drivers zipping down the highway anywhere between 80 and 120 mph.

Across the border in Idaho, officers try to keep speeders from jetting into the Panhandle from Washington, where the speed limit recently increased to 70 mph.

“I think it’s crazy,” said Carolyn Collins, who drives from Kellogg, Idaho, to Haugan, Mont., five days a week for work. “Yesterday, when the sun was out, everybody was leaving me sitting still.”

In November, Congress gave states the green light to set their own speed limits when it eliminated the national speed limit in place since 1973. That limit originally was 55 mph, but increased to 65 mph in 1987.

In Washington now, the rural limit on interstates is 70 mph and 60 mph in more congested areas.

In Idaho, the legislature raised the maximum speed limit from 65 mph to 75 mph for interstate freeways and from 55 mph to 65 mph for state and local roads. However, the Idaho Transportation Department has not yet decided which sections of highway will change to which speeds.

Montana has received national attention for changing to no set speed limit during daylight.

Idaho and Washington patrol officers don’t expect more accidents but, “What you’re going to see is an increase in the severity of the accidents,” said ISP Lt. Doug Camster. “Speed is the energy that causes damage - the more you have the more damage you’re going to have.”

WSP officers have seen few problems on their highways related to the speed changes. But ISP officers say eastbound traffic is coming into the state faster than before now that the Washington speed limit is at 70 mph.

Al Turcotte, a Spokane man who drives to Idaho to repair copy and fax machines, has noticed.

“People are driving at least 10 miles an hour faster,” he said. “I might have to be careful.”

During a break at the Heutter rest area, Turcotte also said it was confusing coming into Idaho. He said he didn’t realize that Idaho’s speed limit hadn’t changed yet.

“I was surprised to see it changing in Washington and not Idaho,” he said. “It’s more difficult slowing down.”

In Montana, officials estimate their new speed limit - or lack thereof - will cause about 40 more deaths a year in the state.

Montana patrol officer Zylawy cruises the west end of Montana in his shiny blue patrol car.

He’s trying to keep in check a myth that has grown to dangerous proportions. The recent speeding citations he’s handed out are a good example: The Kettle Falls man zooming along at 93 mph, the Grangeville man driving 105.

In one day Zylawy caught four people driving more than 100 mph. He cited both the driver of a Camaro and a motorcycle rider going 118. The motorcyclist wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Idaho and Washington drivers make up the largest group of speeders Zylawy catches in Western Montana.

Black and white signs declaring the speed limit are noticeably absent from the Montana roadsides.

“They all say ‘Well, there’s no speed limit so what’s the problem?”’ Zylawy said. But “Just because there is no posted speed limit, it doesn’t mean you can drive as fast as you want.”

“I thought this was the last state I’d get a speeding ticket in,” said Jason Andresen, 21 of Seattle, as he waited for a ticket by the side of I-90.

Andresen was on his way home from a fishing trip in Missoula when Zylawy caught him driving 98 mph in his Chevrolet Blazer. The Blazer’s speedometer only goes up to 85.

“And we didn’t even catch any fish,” Andresen sighed.

What most drivers don’t realize is - speed sign or no speed sign - they still have to drive in a “reasonable and prudent” manner, Zylawy said.

What is reasonable and prudent? Mostly that’s up to the state patrol officers, the county prosecutors and the judges.

When determining what speed is safe, officers take into consideration several things: Type of car, tires, road conditions and other traffic.

A car passing people on icy roads at 60 mph may get cited while a brand new Corvette driving 80 mph on an open and clear highway may be allowed to pass.

But “Basically there’s no argument at all when they hit 100,” Zylawy said. He already has watched one car wreck after driving so fast the retreaded tires fell apart.

Motorists can be fined anywhere from $70 to $320, depending on how fast and dangerous they were driving.

Zylawy said he hopes the state Legislature will set a speed limit during its next session.

So does Andresen. He said he would rather know how fast he’s supposed to be going than guess.

Dawn Hutchings of Pinehurst, Idaho, likes the new speed changes. She commutes from Idaho to Montana for work and figures the speed changes - especially when Idaho’s kicks in - will cut 15 minutes off her drive.

“I thought good, now I won’t get a ticket when I go as fast as I usually go,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo Graphic: Changing speeds