Texas raises speed limits to 80

AUSTIN, Texas – Texans who brag they do things bigger and better now can go faster too.

State transportation officials on Thursday boosted speed limits on two stretches of rural highway from 75 mph to 80 – the nation’s highest posted speed limit.

More speed signs will be changed in the next few days in 10 mostly rural counties in West Texas: a 432-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between El Paso and Kerrville, and 89 miles of Interstate 20 between Monahans and the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains.

While drivers on I-10 can blow by the sleepy town of Sonora, highway safety advocates warn the higher speeds will cause more fatal crashes.

“You can repeal the speed limit law, but you can’t repeal the law of physics. People don’t survive crashes at these excessive speeds,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas director of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.