Utah’s 80 mph speed limit proving to be a boon to motorists

It looks like speed demons in Utah have been given a little more leeway to satisfy their need for speed after the Utah Department of Transportation recently raised the speed limit in various stretches of I-15 up to 80 miles per hour.

So far, the little experiment has received positive results after the UDOT determined that traffic in the area is safest when cars are going in the neighbourhood of 80 mph.

According to the Newspaper, the 85th percentile speed, which represents the speed at which 85 percent of free-flowing traffic feels is the safest, have achieved the best results as far as traffic safety among commuters are concerned. “Engineers have determined that the greatest safety can be achieved when speed limits match the 85th percentile speed,” the article said. Based on crash histories that have been recorded over the years in certain sections of I-15, the UDOT determined that increasing the speed limit in these sections would eventually end up being beneficial not only to the drivers’ safety, but also in ensuring the seamless free-flow of vehicles, thus avoiding continuous traffic.

This comes as good news to a lot of people that have been frustrated with the lower speed limits. Let’s just hope that the rest of the country follows Utah’s lead because, as you know, traffic and car accidents are two things we can all live without.