I drove on Hwy 130 on Tuesday about noon week before last from S.Austin to Lockhart, approximately 25 miles.
Most drivers were still driving in the 75 to 80 mph range.
Perhaps most people can, in fact, be trusted to use good judgement and behave responsibly when dealing with their own safety.

The trip to Austin´s airport use to take me close to an hour to drive. Now with the 130 it takes about 25 minutes. Set your cruise control and go. Better than high speed rail.

At last somebody articulates what I and a lot of other people have known all along. I would like to print this out and hand it over with my drivers id the next time some jack... trooper pulls me over.

Yes, I am in a hurry and I knew exactly how fast I was going thank you very much. Oh, and your welcome- always glad to contribute to the paycheck of someone who should be actually fighting crime rather than harassing working people.

Just be sure to keep it below 88 mph. Especially if you´re in a DeLorean.

Sweet Wife and I were on it yesterday. Even in a 403HP Escalade, I had to remind myself to "keep the speed up"....

Finally gave in and went to cruise control.

Made a short trip of goin´ to the Grandson´s birthday party.

In the event of accidents this will make the hospital visit much shorter, just identify the body and notify the next of kin.

Two words - lane integrity - or lack thereof. Doesn´t do a lot of good, nor is it safe, if I´m driving comfortably at some speed well north of 85 and come up on other drivers in the ´fast lane´ who don´t move over, and take offense that you expect them to. It is not pure speed; it´s speed in relation to others, and the others give you the 1 finger wave as they talk on the phone while driving at the posted limit in the left lane.

Then there are the trucks that take 2 miles to complete a pass...and decide to pass on an uphill grade. Oy vey.

Almost as important in ensuring a safe ride on the interstate: Checking ones mirrors and the use of directionals. That alone would contribute to much safer driving. Hey, I´ve an idea for a safety feature: A mercury switch to sense lane drift which turns on a warning message along the lines of "Hey Pal, don´t you think using your blinkers would be a good idea before pulling a stunt like that?"

The actual speed law in Texas is what "is reasonable and prudent under the circumstance," while posted speed limits are merely what the government controlling the area thinks that is and is prima facia of what is "reasonable and prudent" subject to rebuttal before the judge or jury. I have beat several raps before juries in Texas.

In the 1960s, a long stretch of the Kansas Turnpike, or whatever they called it at the time, was posted for 80MPH.

Made many a trip from Wichita to KC for a weekend of clubbing at 90mph. Boy did that ever suck up the $0.18 per gallon gasoline. Anything over 90 would get you a ticket.

Hot cars were a big thing in Wichita back then but I learned not to mess with those farmers/ranchers with their 3/4 year old Buick/Pontiac/Chevy 4 doors and wagons.

Manny were running 400+ HP with 500+ cubic inch engines so they could cruise down the county roads at 100+ MPH to visit cousin Jimmy or go 50+ miles round trip to town for a hair cut before they began haying in the back 40 that afternoon.

After I got my butt wiped a few times at the stop lights I decided to check out the other guy’s tailpipes before I tried to keep ahead of him to the next light.

If he had dual 2 ½ inch exhaust, I left him alone no matter how much rust/mud he had behind his rear wheels.

Some of these old Bucks just moved their hopped up power trains from one car to another after they beat them mercilessly running down the unpaved cross roads.

While driving 70MPH on the way to the missile sights, I’ve been passed many times as though I was standing still by Ranchers headed for town. They’d take it out of overdrive and hold it to the floor just to impress us young Airmen.

Kafir

Sammy Hagar has a new hit single,
"I can´t drive 85".

Don´t have a Porsche anymore and my ´mostly stock´ old Jeep is only good for 105 sustained cruise...

Drove it a couple of weeks ago. No problem running 85 but I was driving a Chevy Avalanche which didn´t encourage going much faster. Have something faster to try on it later. Couple of observations:

1. This is an *extremely* good road built specifically for high speeds. Flow directions separated 50 ~ 100 yards. Wide paved shoulders on both sides with rumble strips which would wake the dead. Not Texas flat, rolling hills, but a very wide open road with long sweeping turns. Smooth but high traction concrete, has a faint pattern embossed into it.

2. In 2006 Texas increased the speed on most of its West Texas interstates from 70 to 80 mph. They kept track of fatalities for the 3 years before and after doing it. The number of fatalities went DOWN after raising the limits.

Right now the interstates and better non-interstate roads in central and east Texas are set to 75 mph outside urban areas. Those in wide open west Texas and most of the the newer toll roads everywhere are 80. This is the first 85 but TxDoT is working on more *and* studying what it would take to build 100 mph roads.

Oh, yeah, part of what is driving this are studies which showed [A] number of cars on the roads DECREASES with higher speeds (because people aren´t on them as long) and [B] the faster the commercial world can travel the more efficient it becomes and the more wealth is generated for the state and its population.