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* Tribune…
Gov. Pat Quinn [yesterday] vetoed a measure that would have raised the maximum speed limit on Illinois’ tollways to 70 mph from the current 65 mph, citing safety concerns.
“Recent evidence shows that drivers already travel at excessive speeds on Illinois toll highways,” Quinn said in his veto message to lawmakers.
The governor said a tollway study of drivers on Interstate 94 in Lake County last year found 71 percent of them exceeded the posted limit by 15 mph or more. Another tollway study found between 91 percent and 98 percent of drivers on seven different tollway segments exceeded the speed limit from 11 mph to 15 mph during off-peak hours, he added.
Quinn signed a law last year that raised the Interstate speed limit to 70 mph. That bill applied mostly to rural areas. And the tollway limit bill’s sponsor (like the Interstate bill and the trucker speed limit bill that Quinn also vetoed this summer) is GOP US Senate candidate Jim Oberweis. So, one win is enough, I guess. And no wins can be allowed in an election year.
But I’m sure the veto was all about safety.
/snark
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:45 am
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People may be going 15+ mph over the limit because they feel the speed limit is too low. Raising the speed limit by 5 mph doesn’t mean drivers will necessarily increase their typical speed by 5 mph.
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:47 am
On a somewhat unrelated note, although it deals with traffic laws, does anyone specifically know if under Illinois law a driver can text/talk not-hands free while in park or in neutral at a stoplight. The law says one can if traffic is obstructed, but I don’t know what the definition of obstructed is. Sorry to be somewhat off-topic on this post, but I’ve unsuccessfully been able to find a source on this.
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:50 am
Just Observing… not so sure. For me, at least, I set my cruise control at 7-10 over the speed limit when I’m on the interstate. When the speed limit went up last year, I started going a bit faster on 39 and 55.
Comment by AlabamaShake Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:51 am
At least he’s inconsistent.
Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:52 am
When I drive 72 on 94 towards Wisconsin, I’m passed like I’m standing still. This was a stupid veto that will do nothing to slow people down.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:53 am
This is weird, just like so many of Quinn’s moves
Comment by downstate hack Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:56 am
It seems like Quinn is TRYING to lose this election !
Comment by Mcleaniac Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:57 am
@AlabamaShake — You may very well be right. I’m just throwing it out there.
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:57 am
Might be nice to live in a world where legislation advanced on it’s merit, not what it would mean on an election.
Comment by mcb Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 10:59 am
If safety is the goal, the speed limit should be increased, especially on the egregiously underposted 55 zones which blanket most of the tollways. If safety is the goal limits should be based on the 85th percentile speed under good conditions (70 in most of the metro area). This is basic traffic engineering and the science has not changed for decades. The governor is protecting those in the traffic ticket revenue stream at the expense of safety. Those benefitting from traffic tickets include government agencies, the police, the courts, traffic attorneys, the Northwestern University Traffic School, insurance companies and others.
Comment by Steve Doner Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:06 am
The bill passed by a veto-proof majority - more than 90% in both houses. My bigger concern is that the Tollway Authority may still try to hold out for lower limits. They hid behind their misinterpretation of the defined term “urban district”. The bill will pass and the wording will be made crystal clear but they make look for other ways to avoid an increase even though keeping a 55 limit is very dangerous, especially to the few well-meaning folks who actually go 55-60. Sadly I have instructed my own teenage drivers to go 70 for their own safety. What kind of a message is this to give to our young people.
Comment by Steve Doner Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:10 am
==People may be going 15+ mph over the limit because they feel the speed limit is too low. Raising the speed limit by 5 mph doesn’t mean drivers will necessarily increase their typical speed by 5 mph.==
I don’t see people driving 85+ on rural interstates now any more than I used to
Comment by Anonymoiis Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:10 am
A widely held misconception is that speed limits actually influence flow speeds. The numbers on the signs have very little effect on the behavior of most drivers. This has been demonstrated time and again. Even on our own I-355 the average speeds only changed by about 1 mph when the limit was raised from 55 to 65 on the southern leg a few years ago.
Comment by Steve Doner Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:14 am
If you care about this issue, send an email to your representatives and to the Illinois Tollway. IDOT will likely bump the limits up on some expressways once the Tollway moves….logically the outer beltways need to go up first which is why we started there.
Steve Doner, Wheaton
Former Illinois Chapter Coordinator
National Motorists Association
Comment by Steve Doner Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:17 am
I’m not sure if it follows, but theoretically, higher speed limits would mean fewer speeding tickets, and Illinois certainly needs the revenue from speeding tickets.
But, just as Internet haters gotta hate, so Illinois speeders gotta speed.
Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:23 am
Harder to give more revenue generating tickets if the speed limit is raised.
By the way, for those of us who live out here in nowheresville it is about time to raise the rural speed back to 65mph like it was for decades before the phony oil embargo. Many of us really have long distances to drive. If one has to drive 55 on a rural highway to be safe they are ‘unsafe at any speed.’ But again the local revenue generators will oppose this and the entire police establishment will scream ’safety.’
Comment by Federalist Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:24 am
Speed should be high enough so that when a crash occurs, there is no crash sight, just a vaporized dark spot.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:29 am
Streator C. It is supposed to be about the public safety and not about revenue generation.
Comment by Rob Roy Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:29 am
This seems more about ticket revenue than public safety. This is one the GA should override.
Comment by Brass Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:34 am
Just, I asked the friendly neighborhood State Trooper your question about non- hands free awhile back after the law had changed. IIRC, he said the car had to be in park at the light. His advice, though, was don’t do it. Proving you had the car in park or neutral if you drive stick could be hard if the cop is uh, having a bad day.
If an old coot like AA can use Bluetooth, everyone can.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:39 am
^^ Thanks Arthur!
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:45 am
The text of the state law says that neutral is also fine. I put my car in neutral if I’m looking at my phone at a red light. If there’s a cop around, I don’t do it at all.
http://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=098-0506
Comment by Tim Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 11:53 am
>citing safety concerns.
“Recent evidence shows that drivers already travel at excessive speeds on Illinois toll highways”
Then how about signing a bill to enforce the existing laws if this is such a “safety issue”?
Comment by Kenny Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 12:04 pm
Troopers are so rare on 94 between Chicago and Wisconsin that it’s not likely they’re helping the revenue stream much. After the override, put more troopers out there, ticketing drivers who exceed the limit. The revenue will skyrocket.
Comment by been there Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 12:12 pm
It would be interesting to see what the natural speed limit is on I-55 between say, south of Joliet to Springfield. I would guess 80MPH. Speed limits are created by politicians for selectively enforced revenue opportunities, not for ’safety’. In addition, they impose an artificial view that all cars and drivers are the same and should be held to an equally artificial standard.
Comment by Walter Sobchak Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 1:06 pm
There are states with speed limits higher than 70. I think the highest is 85 (I believe it’s on a toll road in Texas). Not saying that because somebody else does it we should, but you could look at accident rates in those areas since the increases took effect to see if there was any measurable impact.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 1:26 pm
Regardless of how odd this veto is and the purpose for which it was issued, I find the Senate sponsor’s legislative record to be just as unusual. In his first two years in office Sen, Oberweis introduced seven bills. Three dealt with speed limits, one with Sunday car sales, two were other “vehicle” bills (no pun intended), and the remainder with other issues. The state is going to hell in a hand basket and he who wants to become a US Senator can’t think of any better issues to attack than speed limits. Jeez.
Comment by Great Caesar's Ghost! Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 2:37 pm
Quinn’s arguments today are inconsistent with signing the 70-mph bill for interstates. He was wrong then. Better late than never.
In 2012, the Governors Highway Safety Association issued a report with the following facts:
* The share of traffic fatalities linked to speeding increased 7% since 2000.
* In 2010, 10,530 Americans died in speed-related crashes.
* The biggest obstacle to speed enforcement is public indifference to speeding.
* More enforcement is necessary to overcome the growing proportion of speeding-related deaths, including greater use of speed cameras.
Source: “Traffic report: Speed kills,” Tribune, March 12, 2012
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 2:47 pm
0x - C004C020 error code is used to represent that the activation server has reached the multiple activation key limit.
Plus we were asked to leave it for 12 to 16 hours for each bottle to get magnetized — and that was with huge magnets of
a very high power. If you are having problems copying the contents of the DVD to a local
disk, either the disk is not readable or the lens of DVD drive needs cleaning.
Comment by http://answers.willslaservision.com Wednesday, Aug 27, 14 @ 5:02 pm
Anon 2:47-
Those facts don’t mean much. Did the raw numbers of speed related deaths increase or did they *decrease* from 2000? There are other factors that may have caused other types of crash deaths to *decrease* at a faster rate than speed related crashes, like safer side crash reinforcement in the vehicle fleet, sqafer roadside designs for run off the road crashes, a multitude of factors. Illinois is headed towards a record low crash deaths in 2014, increased interstate speed limits notwithstanding.
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