CARSON CITY, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) --Drivers on some rural Nevada roads could put the pedal to the metal with the help of a bill that could raise the speed limit.
Lawmakers are meeting at our state's capitol Wednesday morning to hear SB 191. If passed Nevada would join less than a handful of states that have a speed limit more than 80 miles per hour.
The bill would allow the Nevada Department of Transportation to up the speed limit from 75 to 85 miles per hour on certain stretches of open roadway.
To be specific the two stretches of roads that are being discussed are Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Mesquite and interstate 80 between Fernley and Utah.
Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno is supporting the bill, because he says the NDOT should have the ability to choose.
"If you're driving on the freeway and you're driving at 75 mph for a long period of time, it seems like after a while you're driving 50 mph. So I think people ought to be able to make that decision for themselves again if NDOT has deemed it safe," Sen. Brower, R-Reno says.
Drivers will be able to get to their destination quicker turning maybe a six hour drive to five hours.
But at what cost? With higher speeds comes more serious injuries in the case of an accident.
We spoke with Nevada Highway Patrol and they say last year 1/3 of the fatal accidents in Nevada involved excessive speed.
We asked NHP Public Information Officer Trooper Chuck Allen what he thinks about the bill.
"We're here to support the lawmakers and if that's the law they want to impose or to enact then our our job is charged with enforcing the speed limit regardless of what that is and where it is," Trooper Allen says.
The Senate Transportation Committee will hear the bill for the first time at 9:00 a.m. at the Legislative Building in Carson City.
