Page 1.indd - Wingspan

April 2, 2012wingspan.lccc.wy.edu61st LegislatureWingspan 11Senate committee kills 80 mph legislationBy Jennifer StogsdillA&E WriterAt the beginning of March, during the61 st Wyoming legislative session, a Housebill that would have raised the maximumspeed limit on interstate highways from75 to 80 mph was eventually killed by aSenate committee.This bill, sponsored by Rep. TomLubnau, R-Campbell, would have allowedsafe sections of interstates tobe increased to 80 mph. To find safesections, the Wyoming Department ofTransportation (WYDOT) would havesurveyed the interstates to see where theproposed law would work best.“A constituent asked me to proposethe bill because he was driving to LasVegas and saw sections of I-15 that were80 mph,” Lubnau said about the reasoningfor sponsoring the bill.The bill originally passed the Housewith a 56-to-1 vote, but when it reachedthe Senate, law enforcement officialspointed out the dangers and controversyof this bill. The controversy about thisbill was the increased speed would leadto people exceeding that speed limit;possible danger on the interstates wouldincrease, and funding for roads wouldalso be in danger.Lubnau said most people alreadydrive 80 mph on the interstate, and becauseof that, if the interstates increasedto that, people would start going 85 mph,opponents argued.Sam Powell, lobbyist for the WyomingPeace Officers Association, agreed butalso said increased speed limits usuallylead to more crashes. Powell recalledwhen he was a state trooper he wouldsee many more crashes when the speedlimits were raised.With a higher speed, one of the biggestconcerns was danger and crasheson the interstates would greatly increasebecause of the need for more reactiontime. Lubnau said even though law enforcementwas against it mainly for thisreason, “studies in Texas and Utah do notbear these facts out.” Lubnau added that“statistics show the safety and the speedof vehicles does not change much whenthe speed limit is changed to 80 mph.”Del McComie, chief engineer forWYDOT, said even though he had theability to change the speed, he would nothave hiked the speed up right away andthe speed would have to be lowered inmonths with severe weather because thatwould greatly increase the danger.The final component of controversyaround this bill was the monetary issue.Sen. John Schiffer, R-Sheridan/Johnson,said although WYDOT said stretchesinterstate road would have to conductsurveys on the matter, and it was neverspecified how much the surveys wouldcost.Schiffer, who is chairman of theTransportation and Military AffairsCommittee, said when it came to makea decision on the bill, the committeefocused on the funding for this bill tohappen. “We know that our highways aredeteriorating due to funding shortfalls,”he said.Schiffer said the committee is awareWYDOT has shifted from enhanced safety-constructionmode to a maintenanceonlymode because of a shortage of fundsfor the highways.Schiffer said, “When highways aredeteriorating and the conditions areworsening, it seems that it is not the timeto raise the speed limit.”When it came to motion for the bill,Schiffer said no member of the committeewould make a motion, and with nomotion, the bill was killed.Sheila D. Foertsch, managing directorof the Wyoming Trucking Association,said, “The Wyoming Trucking Associationdid not take a position on this bill.” Itdidn’t take position on the bill becauseits policy doesn’t support specific speedlimits, only “reasonable, safe speed limitsbased on sound engineering that areuniformly enforced.”