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Senate committee approves higher highway speed with 70-mph cap for commercial trucks
Summary
A Senate transportation committee approved a bill to raise the maximum highway speed to 75 mph while adopting an amendment that sets a 70-mph maximum for commercial motor vehicles on controlled-access highways; the amendment had input from the trucking association and the bill passed on a voice vote.
A Senate Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs committee voted to advance a bill that raises the maximum permissible highway speed to 75 miles per hour while approving an amendment that limits commercial motor vehicles to 70 miles per hour on controlled-access highways.
An unidentified bill presenter told the committee the amendment "allows for the maximum speed limit for commercial motor vehicles, to be 70 miles an hour" and said the language was developed with the trucking association. The presenter also explained that the committee "moved the speed limit up to 75 miles an hour" for other vehicles and that the bill uses the federal government's definition of a commercial motor vehicle.
Senator Pitch questioned whether the change could jeopardize federal funding or create enforcement confusion by having different speed limits for different vehicle classes on the same road. A staff member replied that other states use similar differentials (the presenter cited Texas as an example) and said the state already accommodates different speed classes in practice.
A motion to adopt the amendment was made by the presenter and seconded by Senator Hill; a subsequent motion to pass the bill was made by Senator Hill and seconded by Senator Eads. The committee took a voice vote and the measure passed out of committee.
The committee record does not show a roll-call tally in the transcript; the recorded action was a voice vote at which members responded "aye." The bill will move to the next stage of consideration according to the Senate process.
