The Wisconsin State Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that could increase the speed limit from 65 to 70 mph on Wisconsin freeways and expressways.
Six democrats joined majority republicans to pass the bill 63-32 . It’s now headed to the State Senate.
Assemblyman Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, said lawmakers didn’t speak with law enforcement officials or other highway safety experts before passing the bill through the transportation committee
to the floor.
That’s chiefly why Wachs didn’t vote in favor of the bill, he said. He suggested an amendment doubling fines for not wearing seatbelts, but it was struck down.
“I voted against it because once we got to the floor we found out it had been hastily arranged,” Wachs said. “There was no testimony from the Department of Justice or the
state patrol.”
Wachs said he and other members of the assembly also received a letter from the trucking company Schneider National urging lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“They said increasing the bill would cause more death and carnage on the highway,” Wachs said. “I was uncomfortable rushing judgement before all the homework was done.”
Lt. Jeff Lorenz, of the Wisconsin State Patrol Eau Claire Post, said when he was 18 in 1970, the speed limit on Wisconsin highways was 70 mph.
But Lorenz declined to comment on how higher speed limits might affect state patrol until the bill is signed into law.
Leah Pinkowsky, a UW-Eau Claire freshman chemistry major, said she’s concerned people might drive closer to 80 mph if the law passes, which could make highway driving more dangerous.
“If weather conditions change, it’s especially hard to react if you are going faster,” Pinkowsky said.
Wachs said although the bill isn’t all negatives he’s not happy with state representatives passing bills with little debate.
“It’s disturbing how quickly legislation is pushed through,” Wachs said. “There are positive sides to the bill, it will take less time to get to Rice Lake and Minneapolis, but it will increase the danger of high speed collisions.”
If Senate passes the bill, the Department of Transportation would have six months to switch interstate speed limits from 65 to 70 mph.