Missouri’s 75 mph speed limit law hitting a slow down

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed a law raising the speed limit on some rural highways from 70 to 75 mph, but state officials and lawmakers say drivers should not expect to see new signs anytime soon.

The law officially takes effect Aug. 28, but the Missouri Department of Transportation has not committed to a timeline for completing the engineering and traffic studies they say are necessary before any speed limits can be raised.

What the law does — and doesn’t do

State Rep. Steve Butz, the ranking minority member of the House Transportation Committee, voted against the bill. He said the legislation does not guarantee any speed limit increases.

“This is not a guarantee that MoDOT is even going to raise the speed limit to 75,” Butz said. “This allows MoDOT to do some engineering studies and where appropriate, and at that point, they could raise the speed limit to 75.”

Butz said he expects zero signs to read 75 mph when the law goes into effect.

“On August 28th you can take it to the bank, that will be Zero,” he said.

MoDOT evaluating eligible locations

MoDOT declined an on-camera interview but provided a written statement: “MoDOT is evaluating those eligible locations now to determine where this increase may be a possibility. That effort will take some time as the department evaluates the various factors thoroughly.”

The department did not provide a timeline for when studies would be completed.

Lawmaker raises safety and process concerns

Butz said he believes the legislation was passed before the necessary studies were completed.

“Even MoDOT didn’t have the studies at the committee hearing because that was one of the questions asked, where would this be, and they just said clearly in the more rural parts of the state, but we don’t know yet,” Butz said. “Because it’s not just how rural it is, it’s the steepness of the grade, it’s very mountainous as you go down 44, southwest of Rolla, the highway is very steep at times, I just think yes, it was premature.”

Butz also cited safety data in his opposition to the bill.

“I’ve been in the insurance industry my whole life, study after study shows the faster people drive, the fatality rates go up, crash frequency goes up, severity of those crashes go up,” he said.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that a 5 mph increase in the maximum state speed limit was associated with an 8% increase in fatality rates on interstates and freeways.

Missouri joins Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma in allowing at least a 75 mph speed limit on some highways. A group of bikers from Oklahoma, where the speed limit is already at least 75 mph, said safety has not been a concern there.

“If everybody is flowing and everybody stays out of the left lane, and if you want to do your normal speed limit, stay in the right lane and let the people in the left lane go,” one biker said.

One Missouri driver also expressed support for the change.

“I think it’s a pretty good idea, I’ve heard on the news other states have the same thing, and it seems more convenient if you’re out in the middle of nowhere and nobody around to go a little bit faster,” the driver said.

Gov. Kehoe’s office did not respond to a request for comment on when speed limits are expected to change.