THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020431
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ESTES THOMPSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 81 lines
North Carolina motorists will be able to drive faster and still be within the law on nearly 400 miles of interstate highway, state transportation officials announced Thursday.
Most of the changes, including boosting the speed limit from 65 mph to 70 mph on several roadways, begin to take effect Monday as signs are changed.
All the signs should be up by the end of next week, said Transportation Secretary Garland Garrett.
``If there was the slightest doubt about raising the limit, we didn't,'' Garrett said.
Speed limits on limited access intrastate highways also may be raised later this year, Garrett said.
The largest single section of road with higher limits will be Interstate 40 from outside Raleigh to just north of Wilmington. The new speed limit will be 70 mph.
The new limits were based on a seven-month study after the national speed limit of 55 mph was abolished in 1995. The study showed that 85 percent of the traffic on interstates was traveling about 70 mph.
Despite the findings, Garrett said he didn't think most people drive thinking it's OK to exceed the posted speed limit by 5 mph.
The changes shouldn't tempt motorists to exceed the new limits, Garrett added.
``I don't think it's going to encourage them to go faster,'' he said. ``I don't think that will affect the rate of speed the good driver is driving.''
A new law requires suspension of a driver's license for anyone going over 80 mph. Garrett said that should deter excessive speed.
But a representative of a state auto club is concerned that higher speed limits will generate even higher speeds.
``What we've found is people are traveling these speeds now,'' said AAA-Carolinas spokesman Tom Crosby. ``If they're going 70 now . . . people are going to start going 75 mph. We're talking about the average motorist, we're talking about you and me.''
Crosby said traffic is getting heavier on all North Carolina roads and that the accident rate has increased 8 percent in each of the past two years.
Highway Patrol Commander E.W. Horton said his troopers will concentrate on drivers exceeding the new limits. He wouldn't comment on whether there is a specific level, such as 5 mph above the limit, that draws a trooper's attention.
``If they drive within the 85th percentile as they're driving now, that will leave fewer people for the troopers to concentrate on,'' Horton said. ``I don't think we'll be writing any more (tickets), just for higher speeds.''
Horton said that, on a recent Sunday, troopers concentrated enforcement efforts on Interstate 95 from Benson to the South Carolina line. They issued 283 tickets, including 19 for driving 100 mph or faster, he said.
Col. A.L. Felton, director of the Division of Motor Vehicles enforcement department, said he didn't think truckers would drive faster. DMV officers patrol with radar and stop primarily trucks and commercial vehicles, he said.
``Most of them are professionals,'' Felton said. ``They're operating safer.'' ILLUSTRATION: INCREASES IN SPEED LIMITS
Speed limits to be raised on 381 miles of interstate highways in
North Carolina, beginning Monday:
65 mph changed to 70 mph
I-40 from just south of Raleigh to just north of Wilmington.
I-40 from east of Statesville to N.C. 801 in Davie County.
I-95 from just south of Roanoke Rapids to the Wilson-Johnston county
line.
I-95 Fayetteville bypass.
I-85 from south of Lexington to east of High Point.
I-77 from Statesville to the Virginia state line.
55 mph changed to 65 mph
I-40 from Wade Avenue west of Raleigh to U.S. 70 south of Raleigh.
I-40 from the McDowell-Buncombe County line to east of Asheville.
I-485 Charlotte outer loop from I-77 to Rea Road.
I-40 Winston-Salem bypass from U.S. 421 west of Winston-Salem to
U.S. 311 south of Winston-Salem.
55 mph changed to 60 mph
I-440 Raleigh beltline from Lake Boone Trail to U.S. 64 east of
Raleigh.
I-85 from N.C. 49 north of Charlotte to east of Gastonia. by CNB