Big news for those who like to get places quickly: On Aug. 1, the maximum interstate speed limit in North Dakota is going up to 80 MPH, a modest increase from the previous maximum of 75 MPH. While an extra five miles per hour doesn’t sound like a massive increase, it means more drivers can continue their habits but be within the letter of the law.
See, there’s this guideline in road planning called the 85th percentile rule, or the speed which 85 percent of drivers are travelling either at or below. As the Federal Highway Administration states, “Motorists traveling above the 85th percentile speed are considered to be exceeding the safe and reasonable speed for road and traffic conditions,” which makes sense. Setting speed limits at the 85th percentile means the overwhelming majority of drivers aren’t breaking the law, a sensible standard.
While the speed limit increase in North Dakota effectively only applies to interstates, in this context, an 80 MPH speed limit makes perfect sense. For one, North Dakota isn’t exactly the most densely populated state in the Union. Roughly 10.73 people per square-mile means there’s space for decent speed, and 80 MPH is decent indeed. In fact, it’s slower than what some European countries like France and Italy have as divided controlled-access multi-lane highway speed limits by roughly one MPH. It’s also perfectly aligned with the maximum speed limit in neighboring state South Dakota.
At the same time, this maximum speed limit increase has been paired with increasing the minimum speed ticket cost on interstates in North Dakota to $20, with an addition five-dollar penalty for every mile per hour beyond four miles per hour over the posted speed limit, and another $20 for speeds greater than 15 MPH over the posted speed limit. While not hugely punitive, greater fines could compensate for lost revenue by going after those seriously flouting what, by all accounts, is a fairly sensible speed limit.
This change in law means North Dakota will be the sixth state to have an 80 MPH maximum on select stretches of interstate, and while that’s still a fairly small number of jurisdictions, it means we’re a long way from the days of the double nickel. How’s that for progress? On a properly divided controlled-access highway without sharp bends, especially one that’s away from built-up areas, 80 MPH seems reasonable and prudent given advancements in vehicles over the past few decades, particularly better brakes, vastly improved tire compounds, and the mandatory implementation of electronic stability control. If a significant chunk of drivers are already going that fast, why criminalize it?
Top graphic credit: Deposit Photos
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
Just drove from Houston to Portland, OR twice. Got some nice 80mph stretches in Utah and Idaho.
When I-90 just north of Chicago went from 45/55mph to 70mph, the end result was my average speed went down from roughly 80-85mph to roughly 75-80mph. Now that the speed limit was reasonable for the road, I didn’t see a point to risk a ticket by speeding.
Is 80 mph really enough? Given the safety and speed of the modern automobile, perhaps 85 or 90 would have been more appropriate.
considering you are basically driving in a straight line, I don’t see any reason for a limit other than to give police cause to pull people over
Works fine, we have 81 mph (130 kmh) on many suited motorways over here in Europe.
We just recently bumped our local motorway to 110km/h. Everyone is still driving 120, but now they’re only exceeding by 10 over.
It’s a good thing. No one passing though the that 3rd world rate state should have to spend anymore time their then they need to.
Speaking of Reasonable and Prudent I miss the days when that was the law in Montana. Made getting to North Dakota much quicker. One time I hung with a state patrol for 2 hrs or so with both of us doing about 95. Other times when I’d see one hanging in the right lane only doing 70 or so I’d slow down to 75 for passing them and then once we had a bit more space between them step it back up to 95 or so.
There are literally more sheep than people in Montana and they don’t drive. Also, the highways are generally flat and straight, so 95mph definitely seemed reasonable and prudent.
I don’t know about sheep, but I know in one of those rest areas along I-90 or I-94 there is a big sign talking about the cattle industry and how the average number of cattle exceeds the state’s human population.
My guess is that both the bovine and ovine populations exceed the human population. Of course, if this is true, the big question that prompts is, are there more cattle or sheep in Montana?
I have an answer, mostly due to my pathological need to look up obscure tidbits of information.
Rounding up the decimals, there are roughly 2 bovines and 1.5 ovines for every human in Montana.
So cattle and sheep both outnumber people and, as I noted earlier, neither of those populations is competing with us on the roads.
Thanks for looking that up!