Maryland Autobahn? Bill to Increase Speed Limits on Interstates Stalled

An effort to increase the speed limit on Maryland interstates and expressways to 70 miles per hour is stalled for this legislative session.

Maryland's House of Delegates approved the measure, but the bill apparently won't receive a Senate vote. It is stuck in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and Sen. Brian Frosh, the committee chairman, doesn't plan to let it go any farther, reports WTOP.

Frosh says higher speed limits would lead to more deaths and pollution, with a marginal benefit of saving a minute or less on most trips.

The current statewide maximum is 65 mph. The bill would let the State Highway Administration or the Maryland Transportation Authority raise it if they chose.

Currently, 38 states have speed limits of 70 miles per hour on some portion of their roadway systems, the Carroll County Times says.

The Maryland Department of Transportation says that speed limits have little effect on how fast most people drive. So it suggests limits at or below the speed at which 85 percent of motorists drive on any given road.