The Oregon House passed SB502 last week to increase the speed limit on rural highways from 55 mph to 65 mph for trucks and from 65 to 70 mph for cars. Gov. John Kitzhaber's office has indicated he will sign the bill under certain conditions.

The bill authorizes the state Department of Transportation, beginning on Jan. 1, 2002, to raise the limit to 70 mph on uncongested stretches of Interstates 5 and 84. Supporters of the legislation cited state figures showing that on stretches of Oregon's highways where the limit currently is 65 mph, the average speed driven by motorists is about 72 mph.

Sen. Randy Miller, the bill's sponsor, has called the bill the "most modest approach to get our traffic laws to coincide with the habits of our drivers." Opponents of the bill argue that raising the limit would create safety problems because drivers will continue to drive over the posted speed limit.

"We talked to Sen. Miller and voiced our concerns, urging him to eliminate the differential," says OOIDA's Todd Spencer. While moving from a ten to a five mile differential is a step in the right direction, Spencer says the real safety solution would be to eliminate the differential between cars and trucks altogether.

A spokesman for the governor's office told news reporters that the governor wants to make sure that the state has enough state troopers to patrol the roads and takes other steps to make sure raising the speed limit won't compromise driver safety.

Oregon and Iowa are the only states west of the Mississippi River with speed limits below 70 mph for cars.