Speed limits on Great Plains highways are trending upward

[Dan Robinson]

Speed limits for chasers have been on an uptrend across the Great Plains and Midwest in recent years.

Many of you have seen the new 80mph speed limit on part of the Turner Turnpike between Oklahoma City and Tulsa last year, as well as many of Kansas' interstates going from 70mph to 75mph in recent years. North Dakota and Montana have adopted 80mph limits on some highways. Wyoming and Texas have had 80mph limits for many years, with Texas currently the nationwide record holder with an 85mph stretch near Austin. There is a bill in the Missouri house to raise the limit in the state to 75mph.

When I made my first trip in 2001, the rural interstate limit topped out in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky at 65mph. It's all 70mph now.

 

[Warren Faidley]

As long as gas prices stay low, we can haul ass. This will all change in a flash if the political landscape changes.

 

[Jesse Risley]

Does anyone remember the 55 mph national limits?

 

[Bob Schafer]

I drive Colorado to Ohio and back every-other month. The cruise control gets set at 79 and there is never any drama (and I get passed by about 5% of other vehicles). When I have a 75mph limit I'll bump it up to maybe 82. My point: at least for me, those higher limits wouldn't make much diff. I drive a pickup, and I'm not really comfortable going faster than 82 in it, anyway.

I got my license during the early days of 55. Boy, you got treated like an axe murderer if you went 70. I went through plenty of radar detectors and CB radios. I stopped using my Valentine a few years ago. No need.

Try driving I-65 from Louisville to Mobile. (Just did) 20% of other vehicles will pass you with the cruise set on 79.

 

[Randy Zipser]

Many of you have seen the new 80mph speed limit on part of the Turner Turnpike between Oklahoma City and Tulsa last year

Now just imagine a scenario of adding 85mph legal speed limits (which will be exceeded by chasers, guaranteed!) to an EF-5 tornado event when the Oklahoma legislature's new storm-chaser restrictions are fully in effect: the result will be a really serious disaster...largely of the legislature's own making. The OHP will be overwhelmed for sure.

 

[John Farley]

Does anyone remember the 55 mph national limits?

Yup. Travelled from Ann Arbor, MI to Jackson, WY during that, and the owner of the car we were in insisted on strict adherence. Long drive.

 

[John Farley]

TX is only tied for the record. There is a stretch in Utah that has been 85 for a number of years. Not chase country, but TX is not the only place with that limit.

 

[Bill Hark]

With these higher speed limits in some of these places, I've gotten to the point where I don't speed. At the newer higher speed limits, I don't feel safe at higher speeds and will stick to the limit, lower in the dark or adverse weather.

 

[Warren Faidley]

85mph is fine on well-made, isolated roads. But blowing through blind intersections at 85mph, or driving in high winds, at night, in dust or on wet roads is not too smart. 85mph means people will be doing 95+. Vehicle maintenance is also an issue at those speeds -- especially tires. Buzzing by slow moving tractors, other chasers or the guys heading to Mexico towing cars at 45mph is scary. Just another reason to target secondary, longer-shot chase situations. Regardless, a lot of chasers are currently operating under the false security blanket of immunity, so let's see how 2026 unfolds as I've noted before. Hoping I'm wrong.

 

[JamesCaruso]

My understanding is that on highways it’s speed *variance* that is the danger, not speed itself. Look at how safe the Autobahn is for example. This dovetails with Warren’s point above about slow-moving vehicles etc.

If everyone is doing 85 it’s fine, but doing 85 and suddenly coming up behind someone doing 55 in the left lane and having to navigate around them is where the danger lies.

Adjusting for weather conditions is necessary of course.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I agree, 85 isn't a comfortable speed in most vehicles, even when legal. Not to mention the gas mileage hit grows very large at those higher speeds.

guys heading to Mexico towing cars at 45mph

I always wondered what the deal was with those. Always 3-car "trains" on I-44 in the middle of the night between Joplin and OKC.

 

[Randy Zipser]

If everyone is doing 85 it’s fine, but doing 85 and suddenly coming up behind someone doing 55 in the left lane and having to navigate around them is where the danger lies.

Absolutely true! In 2001, I was driving a rental Mercedes between Hannover and Dusseldorf at 85mph in the right lane and everyone was flying past me at 120+ in the left lane, honking and flipping "universal hand-signs" at me as they passed by. Then a semi came up behind me closing fast and leaning on his horn, so I had no choice but to speed up over 100...or die! Scariest experience I ever had behind the wheel. And, yes, even a heavy Mercedes didn't feel safe to me at that speed, being used to American driving laws. Why is everyone there in such a damn hurry, anyway? German roads would be a great training ground for storm chasers to learn how to navigate dangerous weather situations at high speeds...

 

[Randy Zipser]

I always wondered what the deal was with those. Always 3-car "trains" on I-44 in the middle of the night between Joplin and OKC.

They may have been stowing away "human" cargo. If northbound, illegal immigrants; if southbound, victims of human trafficking. Avoiding attention of cops and immigration officials would explain the slow speeds and operating under the darkness of night. A very sad sign of the times we live in today...