Will Hoosier drivers be able to step on that gas pedal a little harder? (Oklahoma Department of Transportation)
Hoosiers won’t soon be zooming down their highways at a legal 75 miles per hour.
A House roads committee on Tuesday heard legislation that would boost the limit up from the current 70 miles per hour, but won’t advance it — for now. It did, however, move long-sought legislation allowing jurors to know when someone in a car crash wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
“We all know this isn’t going to get a vote today, and that’s okay,” Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, said of his House Bill 1308 . “… I have carried issues that have taken me 10 years to get done the right way.”
Smaltz said he wanted to start the conversation because Indiana’s roads are in “excellent condition” thanks to recent funding increases.
Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, introduces his bill raising speed limits on highways on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
He also said advancements in vehicle technology — made since Indiana raised the speed limit from 65 to 70 miles per hour in 2005 — have improved safety.