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SALT LAKE CITY — KSL conducted an experiment on I-15 just after rush hour Tuesday evening.
We drove the speed limit, maybe even a little above, to see if cars would pass us. We knew exactly what would happen, and sure enough, car after car after car zipped right by.
"I think what we find is people will drive the speed they feel comfortable with,” said Mack McDonald, who works in Salt Lake City.
KSL caught up to McDonald at a gas station to ask him his opinion on the new speed limit that will take effect next month. The speed limit on I-15 along the Wasatch Front is increasing from 65 to 70 miles an hour. McDonald is happy with it.
"People are driving that speed anyway, even faster, especially on I-15,” said McDonald.
That's because drivers could get away with it.
"Granted, the Highway Patrol, we've done very little enforcement between 65 miles an hour and 70. We'll admit that,” said Col. Daniel Fuhr with the Utah Highway Patrol.
Fuhr admitted there was a sort-of unofficial buffer zone for drivers in that range, but now that buffer may change.
Please don't think if you're already doing 75, now you can go 80 miles an hour. That's not what this law is about.
–Col. Daniel Fuhr, UHP
“Please don't think if you're already doing 75, now you can go 80 miles an hour. That's not what this law is about,” said Fuhr. “We would love it if the new signs came out at 70 miles an hour and everyone drives 70 miles an hour. We know that’s not the case. We know there are some people that think, great, I’ve got another 5 miles an hour I can travel."
UDOT conducted a speed study on I-15 along the Wasatch Front before changing the limit. That study found the fastest average speeds were:
- 82 mph, Farr West, milepost 349
- 81 mph, Ogden, milepost 342
- 80 mph, Orem, milepost 270
UHP will ticket motorists driving those speeds.
“We want to make sure we’re sending the message that an increase of 5 miles an hour is not an increase of 5 miles an hour of already illegal driving,” said Fuhr.
For many drivers, like McDonald, it shouldn't be a problem.
"I think it's fine. I have no problem with the new speed limit,” said McDonald.
