No Speed Limits

Montana’s experience with no speed limits was cited as evidence to implement speed restrictions in Arizona. Center Square reported that the Arizona state legislator, proposing lifting daytime speed restrictions on rural interstate highways claimed that in the mid-1990s when Montana instituted no-speed zones for a few years, officials found two to three times fewer fatalities per vehicle mile traveled than in speed zones. Prior to 1974, Montana had a speed limit of “reasonable and prudent.” That went away for 20 years when a national 55 mph speed limit was enforced. When the national limit was eliminated, Montana went back to the “reasonable and prudent” speed limit in 1995. In 1999, Montana instituted a 75-mph speed limit. Since that time, highway fatalities have increased in Montana. Germany, which has had no speed zones on the Autobahn for 90 years, have had the same experience as Montana under its “reasonable and prudent” restriction, claimed the legislator, Rep. Nick Kupper.