Texas bill to raise speed limit racing toward passage

One chamber of the Texas State Legislature has voted to increase speed limits on some highways in the state to 85 miles per hour, which would make them the highest speed limits in the nation, the Houston Chronicle reported this week.

Texas already has speed limits as high as 80, the current fastest in the nation.

Lead-footed drivers may cheer the faster speed limits, but law enforcement officials and insurance companies would rather the state pump its brakes. 

"People already drive five to 10 mph over the limit," Reeves County Sheriff's Capt. Reno Lewis said to the newspaper. "Eighty is fast enough. You put it up to 85, and they drive five to 10 mph faster, they'll be going close to 100 mph."

"Experience has taught that when you raise the speed limit, there is a potential for more serious traffic injuries and fatalities," Southwestern Insurance spokesman Jerry Johns said in the article. "Speed and alcohol are the biggest contributors to accidents."

A similar proposal has been introduced in the Texas state Senate.