Year after speed limit increase, traffic deaths up

By ANNA M. TINSLEY / Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - One year after the first 70 mph speed limit sign went up in Texas, traffic deaths have increased by 20 percent and could push the state's highway death toll to the highest in years.

As Texas drivers cheered the first signs last year, safety and insurance groups predicted a dismal future for Texans, saying motorists would exceed the speed limit and die in record numbers.

One year later, fatalities have increased by 20 percent, fewer speeding tickets have been issued and insurance groups are urging law enforcers to crack down on motorists exceeding the speed limit.

"This should be the anniversary of an 80 mile speed limit in Texas, because that's about how fast everyone is driving," said Cathy Hickey, spokeswoman for Washington, D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "Higher speeds lead to more fatalities. I think Texas has already seen that.

"While all of the deaths may not be attributed to the higher speed limit, a large portion can be."

The most recent preliminary statistics show that 2,622 people died on Texas roads between December 1995 and August 1996, compared to 2,194 from December 1994 to August 1995, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"The reported increase in traffic deaths should be a wakeup call for all Texans to look at all the factors leading to the tragedy of traffic fatalities," DPS spokesman Mike Cox said.

Officials point to speeding, alcohol, drinking and motorists not wearing seatbelts as factors.

"The DPS does believe the increased speed limits have been a factor in the increase, but it still is too early to blame the increase entirely on the speed limit," Cox said. "It is irrefutable that when an accident does occur, the higher the speeds involved, the greater the chance of injury or death to vehicle occupants."

Just last week, an insurance group urged Texas law enforcement officials to adopt a zero-tolerance policy and issue tickets to motorists exceeding speed limits by even one mile per hour.

Jerry Johns, director of Southwestern Insurance Information Services, said he worries that people will drive 75 and 80, thinking that law enforcement officials will overlook motorists going only a few miles over the legal speed limit.

"The speed that people are driving has gone up considerably. It's human nature," said Bob Draper, senior vice president of the National Traffic Safety Institute. "When the limit was 55, people drove seven to eight miles over the speed limit.

"They thought that was the forgiveness rate and they wouldn't get a ticket for driving that speed. But now, people think they can drive 80 mph without getting a ticket."

Also, fewer speeding tickets are being issued - 207,686 from January to June this year compared with 276,374 during the same time last year, DPS records show.

"The number of speeding tickets has decreased, which certainly could indicate that people feel they are going fast enough and aren't speeding as much," said Laureen Chernow, DPS spokeswoman. Some DPS officials have attributed the drop to state troopers were pulled off Texas roads to help process applications for concealed handguns.

State officials say it's too early to connect higher speed limits with the increase in traffic deaths, but Draper said 1996 is shaping up to be a bad year for Texans.

"Instead of killing 3,200 people, which is our average kill rate, we could kill as many as 3,800 on the roads this year," Draper said. "That's one of the largest increases in our history, if this continues through the end of the year."

The most deadly year for Texas motorists was 1981, when 4,701 people died in accidents on state roads, DPS records show.

The state began raising speed limits on Texas highways Dec. 8, 1995, after President Clinton signed a bill repealing federal speed limits. Clinton's signature ended limits that began in 1974 as an energy-saving measure during the Mideast oil embargo.

Transportation commissioners set new limits at 70 mph on about 47,000 miles of Texas roads. They raised the limit to 60 or 65 mph on about 12,000 miles and it remained at 55 mph or less on about 18,000 miles.

Commissioners have said they will monitor fatality statistics on roads where speed limits increased and would take action if the new limits caused more deaths and injuries.

And they have asked the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University-College Station to study the impact of higher speed limits. Three reports are expected to be issued next year.

"The institute is working on a study to see what the effects of the speed limit are," said Allan King, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation. "They are trying to get the first phase ready for the Legislature in January.

"Everything now is extremely preliminary. They are not even close to making conclusions."

In the meantime, Hickey said she's worried about the growing number of deaths on Texas roads. Her organization, which lobbies state and federal lawmakers, urges more stringent speed limit enforcement and stricter penalties for speeding.

"We said states would see an increase in fatalities because of speed limits," she said. "We were hoping it wouldn't come true. But preliminary data shows it probably will."