SC Lawmaker Proposes Hiking Maximum Interstate Speed Limit to 80

Driving eighty miles per hour on South Carolina interstate highways is against the law.

A state representative proposes making it the new legal norm.

Among the bills prefiled in the S.C. House of Representatives for the 2010 session that begins in January is H 4185 from Rep. Todd Rutherford, a democrat representing District 74 in Richland County. He prefiled it today. I pulled up this information about the proposal from www.scstatehouse.net:
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A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-1520, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MAXIMUM SPEED LIMITS IMPOSED ALONG THE STATE'S HIGHWAYS, SO AS TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT THAT MAY BE POSTED ALONG INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS AND FREEWAYS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 56-5-1520(B)(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1) eighty miles an hour on the interstate highway system and other freeways where official signs giving notice of this speed are posted;"
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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I drive approximately five miles on a local interstate to and from work each day. Many of you drive a lot more interstate miles than that.

You know, as I do, that people are routinely driving 80 or higher now on roads where the posted limit is 55, 60, 65 or 70.

80 or better is already the norm.

In fact, if you're in the passing lane going 80, it's just about guaranteed you have someone on your bumper who isn't satisfied with 80. They're so close they could nearly change the selection on your I-pod. They want you out of the way so they can go... well, the sky seems to be the limit for drivers like them. The only thing stopping them is a slower vehicle in front.

News Channel 7's Melissa Keeney has interviewed Corporal Travis Pearson of the S.C. Highway Patrol about his experiences with speeders. Corporal Pearson says he pulled over a teenage driver on I-385 in Greenville County who was going 105 miles per hour in a 55 zone. "I tried to explain to that kid what would happen at a collision at that speed... actually called his mom and dad out to the scene also, and wasn't too pretty when dad got here."

Even state troopers don't seem to intimidate speeders anymore. I guess it's because our highway patrol is stretched so thin, and so bogged down with paperwork and court appearances, the patrol's opportunity to just set up radar and pull speeders is limited.

That is, except in Newberry County along Interstate 26. Troopers there have always meant business and still do. I watched troopers swarm I-26 in Newberry County recently as my wife and I began a vacation trip. There's no telling how many ticket books were filled that day.

And if lawmakers raise the maximum speed limit to 80, what happens?

Drivers in 80 mph zones will feel entitled to go at least 90.

Everyone's in a hurry. Everyone's running late. Everyone is squeezing all they can into every minute of every day. Hurry hurry rush rush. It contributes to high blood pressure, road rage, accidents and wastes gas.

What we really need, instead of permission to speed up, is permission to slow down.