Increasing The Speed Limit Raises Safety Questions for Michigan Motorists

The Michigan Legislature is, again, debating a proposal to raise the speed limits for state and county roadways.  The package of bills (HB 4423  thru 4427) have been passed by the House Transportation Committee (Chaired by Republican, Peter Pettalia, District 106) and will now be considered and debated by the full House.  A comprehensive legislative analysis of the bills and "the 85th Percentile" rationale by the House Fiscal Agency can be found here.  Increasing the speed limit raises safety questions for Michigan motorists.  Political alliances are forming for and against the proposal; one partisan hypothesis by the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy (in favor of the bills) cynically charges that those who oppose the bills -- citing safety concerns  -- are actually, just privately motivated by financial loss if the bills are implemented.  Meanwhile, the MDOT is on record confirming that its studies factually prove that higher speeds lead to more serious accidents.  We will continue to monitor and report about the status of this important legislation that will impact us all.

Authored by L. Page Graves