Kansas House Kills 80 mph Speed Limit Bill

While many motorists drive 80 mph on major Kansas turnpikes and highways where the speed limit is posted at 75 mph, a proposed 80-mile an hour legal speed limit bill has been killed in the Kansas State House.

Members voted Tuesday against increasing the speed limit on multilane divided highways from 75 to 80 mph.

The measure had been introduced by Rep. John Bradford, R-Lansing who noted five other states had raised speed limits to 80 and Texas even bumped its speed limit to 85 in remote parts of western Texas.

“This does not say everyone has to drive 80 mph. We do have the right lane for slower vehicles,” said Bradford in advocating the increase.

Opponents argued that if the speed limit was increased, it would raise the “buffer” to 90.

“You’re looking for a disaster to happen,and it happens very quickly,” argued Rep. Les Osterman, R-Wichita. “I’m not going to have it on me that I raised the speed limit to cause more deaths in the state.”

However, one part of the measure was approved and it will allow the secretary of transportation to increase speed limits on rural two-lane highways by 5 mph. The bill heads to the Senate for consideration.