This statewide 70mph limit may soon see approval by authorities. Keeping all road users safe is a priority for lawmakers, and part of that role is monitoring the speeds at which drivers are driving. Oftentimes, authorities reach the conclusion that they need to decrease speed limits and increase penalties for failing to drive at a legal speed due to excessive speeding, which remains a prevalent problem across states. However, in some cases, the reverse decision is reached.
Keeping the roads safe with these new driving policies
This year alone has seen a number of changes go into place across the nation to keep road users safe. The majority of these changes pertain to increasing the severity of associated penalties for breaking the laws of the road. These penalty changes range from increasing associated fines for specific unlawful driving practices to certain road traffic convictions now carrying the risk of jail time when they previously did not.
Speeding is one such driving behavior that has recently received tightening across states regarding what penalties you will face if you are convicted of this behavior. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding was attributed to approximately one-third of traffic fatalities in 2023. To deter drivers from this behavior, many states have implemented programs and interventions that aim to reduce all incidents of excessive speeding.
In July of this year, Florida implemented new legislation, which will see drivers convicted of excessively speeding receive a $500 fine and/or up to 30 days in jail. The state defines excessive speeding as any driver driving 50mph over the speed limit. On top of these new speeding penalties, the state has made recent changes to categorize certain unlawful driving behaviors, whereby some of these unlawful practices will now carry a felony charge, along with additional penalties, should you be convicted.
Statewide 70mph limit may soon go into effect
While speed limit changes are generally about lowering the speed limit in order to force drivers to slow down, New York Senate Bill S1500 suggests the reverse. Currently sitting in the Senate Committee, the proposed piece of legislation would authorize a statewide 70mph limit increase from the state’s current 65mph limit across certain locations and highways.
Discussions surrounding raising the speed limit to 70mph in the state have been growing since 2023. In March of 2023, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara proposed the exact measure currently under consideration:
“The fact is technology has changed and more people are comfortable driving at a higher speed on the highway,” said Santabarbara at the time.
Increasing speed limits can assist in preventing road traffic accidents by ensuring that traffic continues to move in a cohesive manner when it becomes that the majority of drivers are not following stipulated speed limits. When this happens, it means that those drivers who are following the legal speed limit may become a hazard to the faster vehicles.
Other legislation is approved in time for Halloween
While New Yorkers wait to see the outcome of the proposed speed limit change, residents of other states have received confirmation of more severe changes to driving legislation laws just in time for the holiday season. This time of the year generally sees a spike in road traffic accidents.
In Florida, you can now receive a fine of $5,000 for installing front-facing red, blue, and red-and-white lights that flash and rotate. This is because these types of lights are used by authorities such as police and other emergency services. With Halloween coming up, residents may be tempted to match their vehicles to their outfits should they wish to dress up as people who work in these fields. Additionally, the conviction now carries a third-degree felony charge and jail time of up to five years.
