NE FL Senators talk raising speed limit to 75

The Florida Senate will soon vote on a bill that would allow FDOT to increase the speed limit from 70 to 75 mph on certain state roads.

“I just think the time has come that we can safely increase the speed limit,” says Republican Senator Aaron Bean.

He says the bill allows FDOT to determine which areas are safe to increase speed and which are not.

“It’s gotta be an unpopulated area,” he says.  “A sparsely unpopulated area.”

Florida last increased the speed limit to 70 mph in 1995.  Since then, traffic fatalities have gone down every year but one.

“The general flow of traffic is higher than seventy miles-an-hour,” Bean says.

Democratic Senator Audrey Gibson says she thinks the bill will lead to people going 85 and 90 on the roads.

“And I just think that’s very dangerous with so many visitors and seniors,” Gibson says.  “In Florida, a tourist state, we want people to slow down not speed up.”

While the two disagree on the bill itself, both agree that the most important way for people to stay safe on the roads is to put down their cell phones.