Capitol Ideas: Neighboring states leaving Iowa in the slow lane

DES MOINES - Iowa is at risk of getting left in the dust, but lawmakers aren't showing much concern.

Nebraska has raised its interstate highway speed to 75, and Oregon is considering a similar change. South Dakota allows drivers to legally speed past the prairie dog villages at 80 mph.

Wisconsin is one of at least 10 states that have taken up legislation this year to increase maximum speed limits, according to AAA.

And in Texas, where everything is bigger, bolder and apparently faster, drivers can go 85 mph on some roads.

Don't bother dusting off your lead foot because the Iowa Legislature has shown little interest in raising the speed limit. Proposals by Republican Sens. Brad of Urbandale and Bill Anderson of Pierson to raise the limits to 75 in interstates and 60 on two-lane, hard-surfaced primary roads have died in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Maybe the reluctance stems from what one lawmaker called the appearance of legislators raising speed limits to be self-serving.

Or it might be that lawmakers, like a lot of Iowans, already set their own speed limits. When making an all too frequent trip between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines on Interstate 80, this driver-rehabilitation-program graduate can count on being passed at least once by a lawmaker.

On more than one trip I have been passed more than once by the same lawmaker. Maybe that 'get out of jail free” card issued to legislators isn't just a rumor.

Anderson thinks Iowans would like to go faster. He's not trying to catch up with Texas, but would like to keep pace with Nebraska.

He's starting small - or slow - with a bill to raise the speed limit to 60 on primary roads. It was 60 once - back in the days before the Arab oil embargo and what my Dad called the 'Nixon 55.”

'It makes sense to me,” Anderson said. 'As someone who lives on a two-lane road, I'm supportive of a higher speed limit.”

Cars are better-built with more safety features and roads are better engineered than they were 40 years ago, Anderson said.

That's a common argument of people who support higher speed limits. They say that if speed limits are being set at appropriate levels based on valid engineering standards, traffic flow will be smoother and more uniform, and there'll be fewer accidents.

There's some evidence to support that. A 2008 Purdue University study found that raising the speed limit on an interstate highway in Indiana had not increased the probability of fatalities or serious injuries.

But speed kills, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The organization says speed-related crashes cost society an estimated $40 billion per year and is a factor in 30 percent of all fatal car crashes.

It counters the better, safer, stronger car argument by pointing out that it takes longer to stop a speeding vehicle, and speed interferes with a driver's ability to detect and react to dangerous situations. Passenger-restraint systems such as seat belts, air bags and child safety seats can be less effective at high rates of speed.

Besides, driving faster leaves less time for texting.