Maryland's southern neighbor is studying a plan that would increase the legal maximum speed on some of its interstate highways from 65 mph to 70 mph this summer, NV Daily.com reports.
The Virginia General Assembly gave the state's Department of Transportation the green light this year to increase limits on rural interstates by 5 mph. State officials are now conducting field tests to determine where such increases might be appropriate. A segment of Interstate 85 between Ppetersburg and the North Carolina state line already has a 70-mph speed limit.
Maryland's highest speed limit is 65 mph.
Some safety advocattes get stressed out an any mention of raising speed limits, but in my view it's not a significant problem. Prudent drivers already top out at just above 70 on rural interstates in the mid-Atlantic states. Chances are, an increase in rural Virginia would have little effect on actual speeds.
My view has long been that speeding should be addressed primarily by tough laws against extreme behavior such as driving at 80 mph and above or 20 mph over the speed limit. Virginia already has strong laws bringing extreme speeding under its reckless driving law. If Maryland, were to do the same, and get rid of PBJs for such offenders, I'd be happy too see rural highways such as Interstate 70 and Interstate 68 bumped to 70 mph.