Legislature OKs higher speed limits

LANSING (AP) — Michigan motorists could drive faster on rural highways under bills that won final approval this week in the Legislature, which narrowly backed a 75 mph speed limit on 600 miles of freeway and a 65 mph limit on 900 miles of other roads.

Within a year, the limits would rise from 70 mph to 75 mph and from 55 mph to 65 mph if a safety study shows it is OK and the new limit is what no more than 15 percent of drivers already are exceeding.

The limits could rise on about 15 percent of Michigan’s nearly 9,700 miles of I-, U.S.- and M-numbered highways.

Republican Rep. Brad Jacobsen of Oxford, who sponsored the main bill that cleared the GOP-led House 57-51, said it makes sense to base speed limits on the 85th percentile standard — where 85 percent of motorists currently are currently driving 75 mph or 65 mph anyway on the affected roads.