Oh Wow! 5 miles an hour faster lowers the gap between trucks and cars?THere are some real moronic lawmakers up there. They should have got rid of split speeds altogether. Why? Because even if trucks drive 70mph they ARE ALREADY traveling slower than cars. The average speed for a car on rural freeways is 80-90mph. Texas figured this out and got rid of split speeds back in 1999. Right now the speed limit for all vehicles in Tx. is 7omph day and 65mph at night. With the straight flat roads Mi. has 55 and even 60mph is ridiculous. That's the speed for a narrow 2-lane,not a major interstate. I never believed speed limits were really about safety anyway. Hopefully a lawmaker with common sense will emerge in some of these unusual northern states.

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Keep right,pass left.

Lets just say since I live in Michigan being called an "unusual" place really caught my eye, what makes us so unusual?.....IF cars are going 80-90 like you say I would suggest that the cops get off their butt and stop them!

Most people do not have the skills nor properly maintained vehicles to be driving that fast period. I do agree that trucks and cars should probably have the same speed limits, as I have read numerous articles stating the pros/cons of the issue. I however am not a "speed freak" and think that if I am going to have a tire blow out, run into bad road conditions which happens in our lovely climate...I would rather do it at 60 than 80. Setting a speed limit serves no purpose if as you stated people are driving 10-20 miles per hour over the limit. Michigan would have a budget surplus or could afford more patrol cars if speeders were given stiffer tickets.

luvmyhubby

The cops are the ones in the left lane, passing everyone and running 90MPH. Any modern car has no trouble running 80+. Even my 11 year old Caprice (or my friend's half-million-mile 17 year old Dodge Diplomat) will do it easily. Heck, we were pushing 80-85 driving it back from the place he bought it, and were relegated to the center & left lanes.

My Caddy is barely working hard at 90.

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Jarlaxle Baenre
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RIP E. Gary Gygax 1938-2008

I run I-70 out of Baltimore every night, and the 20 mile stretch between Hagerstown and Hancock in MD is pretty wide open, straight, and often deserted when I go through there. I'll be cruising along at 72, and I'll be routinely passed by state troopers doing about 110. They blow by me like I'm parked.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Technicaly a cruiser has to do the speed limit unless on a call with the strobes on.

I have too seen police cars hauling ##### passing me like I was standing still while I was moving at 70...

Oh, yeah?

Someone should inform the MD State Police of that...

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

I said technicaly, no way are they obligated when it is beer 30...

Bill to reduce speed gap moves to Michigan governor

An effort to reduce the speed gap between cars and trucks is headed to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Backed by advocates who say it will make roads safer by improving traffic flow and more closely resembling “85th percentile” speeds, the Senate approved the bill 25-11 Tuesday, Jan. 31. House lawmakers gave their final endorsement Wednesday, Feb. 1, clearing the way for the bill to move to the governor’s desk.

Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Caswell, R-Hillsdale, the bill – HB5104 – would increase the 55 mph speed limit for trucks to 60 mph on highways where the maximum limit is 70 mph.

The higher limit would apply to vehicles with a gross weight of 10,000 pounds or more and truck-tractors with trailers.

Other motorists would continue to drive at the current 70 mph limit.

In testimony on the bill last fall, James C. Walker, an automotive consultant, spoke of the importance of setting speed limits based on the 85th percentile rule – the speed at or below which 85 percent of drivers operate their vehicles.

“Recent (Michigan) State Police data shows the 85th percentile speed for heavy trucks is 64 mph. A higher limit will merely be closer to reality,” Walker said.

Walker also told lawmakers the closer that speed limits are to 85th percentile speeds, the smoother and safer the traffic flow tends to be.

“Reducing differential speeds is one key to this smoother and safer traffic flow,” Walker said. “No safety benefit accrues to setting posted speed limits below the 85th percentile … and no safety benefit accrues from differential speed limits for trucks versus cars.”

State police experts agree the wide speed disparity creates more hazards for all drivers than if the speeds were uniform.

“It’s not speed, but conflicts in speed that cause accidents,” State Police Lt. Thad Peterson, head of the traffic services section, told the Detroit Free Press. “When you have people driving different speeds you have more lane changes, they speed up and slow down. A lot of decision-making occurs there.

“At similar speeds, it’s more possible to maintain a proper following distance between the car or truck in front of you. You make fewer lane changes.”

Michigan is one of 11 states that post different speed limits for cars and trucks on rural interstates.

For the sake of safety, Caswell agreed it’s imperative the existing speed gap between cars and trucks be minimized.

“What we’re seeing is that’s too large of a gap on divided highways. It’s creating some very unsafe situations,” Caswell told Land Line.

“When trucks pull out to pass other trucks and can only go 55 we are seeing a huge backup in traffic. We’re seeing a lot of problems in that regard so what we are trying to do is narrow the top end and the bottom end. Get them closer together so traffic is moving more smoothly with a more uniform speed down the highway. It’s safer for everybody.”

Todd Spencer, executive vice president for OOIDA, said he is encouraged to see legislation to address safety problems resulting from a large speed gap move forward.

“While we think a uniform speed limit clearly makes the most safety sense for speed limits, the measure now headed to the governor’s office moves us a little closer to that,” Spencer said.

Walker said any concerns that higher speed limits for trucks would be more dangerous are not based on the scientific traffic safety engineering research from the past 60 years.

If Granholm signs the bill, it would take effect in nine months.

In California, autos doing 70+ and trucks limited to 55 for over a half a century because 55 is the 'Truck Speed Limit' in CA, all drivers have had to deal with the speed differential, which has been repeatedly shown to increase the number of incidents on our highways...
While numerous studies have shown over years and years that minimizing the speed differential, and situating speed limits based on the 85th percentile, improve conditions to the best possible outcome, states like California refuses to even consider abolishing the Truck Speed Limit. Legislative aids create the rules in this society, with imput from their pals in the Insurance Industry, whom of course stand to benifit. Legislative leaders simply go through the motions in never ending attemps to be re-elected, and solicit campaign contributions. That part all makes perfectly good sense, if your'e one of them.
Throughout my 45 plus years of driving I've waited for the day of enlightenment for those purveyors of puke in Sacramento.
The long standing Double Nickel vanished. Maybe as these old farts die off sense will finally come to the Golden State. Too bad I won't live to see it.