The Texas House last week approved a bill that could increase the speed limit on some state highways to 85 mph, making them the fastest in the country. The Dallas Morning News has reported that, following favorable engineering and traffic studies, designated lanes or full stretches of highway could have a higher posted speed limit.

Rep. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham introduced the bill. “They have high-speed roadways in Europe, and there could be some merit in having some of those highways in Texas,” she explained. The state Senate will also have to approve the bill before any concrete measures can be put in place.

Both Texas and Utah currently post an 80 mph limit for some roadways. Texas is reported to currently have 520 miles of high speed pavement. According to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), traffic fatalities in general in Texas have been steady from 2005 through 2008, with a modest decline in 2009. A similar trend is evident in National statistics over the period since 2003.

Speeding related fatalities in the Lone Star state show a similar pattern, as do those related to alcohol impairment. Harris County (the Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown metropolitan area) is recorded as the most deadly place in the state, consistently accounting for 10 to 11 per cent of all fatalities regardless of cause, over the past five years.