Nevada DOT refuses to accept 80 mph limit

Last year the Nevada legislature raised the speed limit to 80. So why aren’t there any 80 mph signs? Because the DOT director doesn’t want them.

The official explanation is the law “allows NDOT to evaluate the potential of raising speed limits where safe and practical to do so.”

Not true.

Like I said before, DOTs have turned into PR firms and you should believe their explanations as much as you believe the guy selling slightly used TVs off the back of a truck.

What the law really says is the state 75 mph speed limit is now 80. Anywhere Nevada DOT has not formally lowered the speed limit from 80, the limit is 80. Lowering the speed limit requires a traffic study, which the DOT admits hasn’t been done.

The ongoing investigation is not a real traffic study. The DOT is consulting with police to make sure they are willing to lose 30% of their chances to make pretext stops.

Nevada DOT didn’t used to stall like this. There was no exhaustive survey of every guardrail post along I-80 before raising 55 to 65 or 65 to 75. The DOT used to just post rural highways at whatever the legislature said the maximum speed limit was, if there was one. Before 1973 there was no speed limit. There was no need for a speed limit. There is still no need for a speed limit.

Nothing is special about this speed limit change, except this time the DOT doesn’t want it.

The opinions expressed in belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of the National Motorists Association or the NMA Foundation. This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal advice. No representations are made regarding the accuracy of this post or the included links.

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