75 mph Speed Limit in Kansas

[1979Shocker]

Speed limit could increase to 75 on some Kansas highways

TOPEKA, Kansas — The speed limit on some Kansas highways could be upped to 75 miles per hour. The House Transportation Committee held hearing Wednesday on the proposal that would increase the speed limit on separated highways across the state.

Representative Marvin Kleeb, a Republican from Overland Park, is proposing the bill. He believes that increasing the speed limit in Kansas would be good for the economy, by encouraging tourists and truckers to drive through the state. He also believes it would actually make our highways safer.

"We have a lot of people who want to drive 75 anyway," said Kleeb. "It is a natural speed limit in a lot of people's minds and this would bring a lot of the slower drivers up to 75, which would create an overall safety enhancement."

This won't make much difference. Most people already drive 5 mph over the speed limit anyway. If it's raised to 75, people will drive 80.

It only helps those who obey the 70 mph speed limit who would like to go 75.

Maybe they should put the turnpike speed back to 80 like it used to be.

[DUShock]

I hope it is increased, this will cut just over 30 minutes off our trips to Grand Lake. 30 minutes may not sound like much but in good weather a trip under 8 hours is nice. Most folks travel 75 on I-70 & I-35 so five more mph isn't much. 80 I don't know that is getting up there IMO but I am certain 75 is too much for some, it will be for me in another 20 -25 years.

[ShockBand]

And people will gripe about the gas prices and how crappy their mileage is, and maybe not realize just how deep of an impact speed has on mileage.

Effective MPG of 29 MPG on the highway at 60 mph goes down to about about 23 MPG at 75 mph, and 21.5 at 80 mph.

And heaven help us with those out there who will still be trying to text at 80 mph.

[pogo]

The last speeding ticket I got was by a Texas Highway patrolman. He wrote it out for 65 in a 55 because he did not get a good lock as I wizzed past him. After we chatted awhile and gave me my ticket he asked me how fast I was going when we passed each other. I told him I had it at 127 and had backed off because the front end was light. He smiled and told me to keep it a little slower. Of course this was 30 years ago and the times have changed and he knew I was stationed at a near by Naval air station.

[im4wsu]

And people will gripe about the gas prices and how crappy their mileage is, and maybe not realize just how deep of an impact speed has on mileage.

Effective MPG of 29 MPG on the highway at 60 mph goes down to about about 23 MPG at 75 mph, and 21.5 at 80 mph.

And heaven help us with those out there who will still be trying to text at 80 mph.

All this mpg information varies widely by vehicle, so I disregard it altogether.

I believe 75 will divert a significant amount of truck traffic from I-80 to I-70. 75 is not too fast for the three major roads, 35, 70 and the TP. Driving at 80 on those roads is not a problem either. I don't believe, however, that the turnpike should return to an 80 speed limit because 85 is nearing the point at which the road itself becomes dangerous in its current state of repair.

[ShockBand]

And people will gripe about the gas prices and how crappy their mileage is, and maybe not realize just how deep of an impact speed has on mileage.

Effective MPG of 29 MPG on the highway at 60 mph goes down to about about 23 MPG at 75 mph, and 21.5 at 80 mph.

And heaven help us with those out there who will still be trying to text at 80 mph.

All this mpg information varies widely by vehicle, so I disregard it altogether.

I believe 75 will divert a significant amount of truck traffic from I-80 to I-70. 75 is not too fast for the three major roads, 35, 70 and the TP. Driving at 80 on those roads is not a problem either. I don't believe, however, that the turnpike should return to an 80 speed limit because 85 is nearing the point at which the road itself becomes dangerous in its current state of repair.

I'm not saying we need to return to the 55 days, its just that not everyone realizes that your MPG does go down once you get past the optimum of about 60 mph. Yes it does vary, but aerodynamic are aerodynamics. The reason most of the major airlines slowed their speeds just a little bit was to save fuel and money.

[RoyalShock]

A couple of years ago we went to Colorado Springs via I-70. I'm a 5-to-7 over the limit driver, meaning I was going 75-ish. When we hit the Colorado border and the limit increased to 75 I thought OK, it's time to go 80. I was surprised that I was passing a whole lot more people than I was in Kansas. For some reason, drivers appeared to be keeping their speed within 2-3 mph of 75.

As for gas mileage, when driving into Wichita I do 60 in a 55 for 8 miles, 70 in a 65 for 6 miles, then 77 in a 70 for however far it is from Haven to I-235. I get better mileage on that trip than I do driving 10 miles of county road at 60 with some in-town Hutch driving. The difference is about 21mpg to 19mpg. And this is in a vehicle that is supposed to get 25-27mpg on the highway and 21mpg in the city. (Yeah, I never put much stock into those numbers.)

All that said, if the limit went up to 75 I probably wouldn't drive any faster than I do now. But I'm sure some would start pushing 85, as I often get passed when I'm doing 77-78 on K96.

[SubGod22]

I travel between 75 and 80 going to STL and still get 30ish. I haven't checked recently, but my normal driving habits used to get about 33, mostly highway driving (254/135/235).

[ShockBand]

In my little ol' Saturn, if I chug at 70+ on the turnpike, I'll get in the low 30s on mileage. At 60, barring any nasty winds, I can actually approach 40 mpg. So yes it does vary depending on a lot of factors.

[SB Shock]

And people will gripe about the gas prices and how crappy their mileage is, and maybe not realize just how deep of an impact speed has on mileage.

Effective MPG of 29 MPG on the highway at 60 mph goes down to about about 23 MPG at 75 mph, and 21.5 at 80 mph.

And heaven help us with those out there who will still be trying to text at 80 mph.

All this mpg information varies widely by vehicle, so I disregard it altogether.

LOL,

Lets disregard physics.

[WstateU]

"I Can't Drive 55"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10X3zJpMDMo&feature=fvwrel

[1979Shocker]

My car is rated for around 30 mpg on the highway, but every time I travel out west, I end up getting around 40 mpg while traveling between 65-70 mph.

I always use cruise control, so that probably helps a lot.

[lostshocker]

I believe 75 will divert a significant amount of truck traffic from I-80 to I-70.

oh gawd please take some of that truck traffic. it royally sucks going 80 then bam 2 semis dragging each other seeing who is governed the slowest. but even raising to 75 not sure how much would be diverted since very few of the trucks actually go 75.

[kcshocker11]

Out west the faster the better, Kansas is one boring drive