newjerseynewsroom.com

BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM

COMMENTARY

There is nothing Texas has that a Jersey Girl would covet. But this fall the 85 mph speed limit on 41 miles of open highway may prove me wrong.

The Texas Transportation Commission approved the speed limit increase, which will make that stretch of highway between Austin and San Antonio the fastest in the country.

"Sometimes it's fun to just open it up,” Austin resident Alan Guckian told the Associated Press.

And I couldn’t agree more, though it's not happening in the Garden State with constant traffic snarls and a conservative speed limit of 65 mph. It would be so nice on an autumn day, leaves changing colors, windows down and a great tune on the dial, to just go, whether to the Shore or to the Delaware Water Gap, or to the city. Sigh!

Experts disagree that the speed limit increase is fun.

"The research is clear that when speed limits go up, fatalities go up," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Meanwhile, Mark Cross, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, told the Texas Tribune, “Safety is our top priority and tests have shown the designated speed is a safe one.”

And SH 130 Concession Co. which built and will operate the toll road says motorists should use common sense when traveling the roadway.

"We are committed to operating a safe, reliable highway for our customers. On any road, drivers hold the key to safety based on traffic, travel conditions and the capabilities of their own vehicles," the company said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Hmmm, maybe if more drivers in the Garden State used more common sense the speed limit would increase in some areas of certain highways (please). Oh wait, there are too many Pennsylvania drivers here and those from Philadelphia were just ranked the worst drivers in the nation by All State.