ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110087
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
WASHINGTON
IT'S STILL TOO SOON to draw conclusions, but eight states saw increases and four others saw slight drops in fatal accidents.
Since the federal government let states raise highway speed limits last winter, at least eight states that did so have seen increases in highway deaths, an Associated Press survey found.
Yet, four other states that raised limits have seen fatal accidents actually drop slightly.
Virginia's General Assembly voted down an effort to raise speed limits.
The conflicting statistics have led the American Automobile Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to caution that it's too soon to draw firm conclusions. Many states, for instance, have yet to gather data since raising speed limits.
Many troopers out on the roads, however, echo Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Robert Flowers, who says he's seeing more damage from high-speed crashes: ``It opens vehicles up. Doors come off, windows come in.''
A little more than half the states have increased limits on at least some highways since Congress ended the federal cap of 55 miles per hour - 65 mph on rural interstates.
Before the change, highway deaths had been increasing for the previous three years, highway safety groups note. And the increases that have occurred since might be attributable to reasons besides higher speeds, including bad weather or higher rates of drunken driving.
Many officials estimate it could take up to three years to get good data. Yet in some cases, the increases are startling and are worrying state officials.
Early counts show highway deaths up in Alabama, California, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Texas.
Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Ron Beck said officials simply don't know if the jump is because of higher speed limits, now 70 on rural freeways and 60 on city interstates.
In Oklahoma, Lt. Gerald Davidson said that since his state raised limits to 70 mph on most interstates and 65 mph in urban areas, speed has been a factor in 30 percent to 33 percent of traffic deaths, up from 20 percent in traffic deaths before. However, he said it is too early to determine if the higher speed limits were a factor.
On the other hand, fewer people died in Florida, Massachusetts, Montana and Utah despite higher speed limits on significant numbers of roads. Massachusetts officials attribute the drop to enforcement of seat-belt and drunken-driving laws.
While the death toll has varied, one thing seems clear: Raising the speed limit means more people can drive legally.
California Highway Patrol Officer Hector Marquez patrols a busy stretch of Interstate 5 near Sacramento: ``I haven't seen a great change in people's driving habits. Many drove right around 70, even with 55 limit. Now that it has been raised to 65, people are still hovering right around 70.''
Montana is a special case. When the federal limit disappeared, Montana reverted to its old law, which specifies only a ``reasonable and prudent'' speed during daytime. Nighttime limits are 65 on interstates, 55 on other roads.
The result? As of Sept. 30, the state had recorded 152 deaths, down from 165 in the same period a year ago.
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