A Purdue University study suggests that higher Interstate speeds has not lead to more Interstate deaths.

Before the move was approved in 2005, legislators heard concerns that allowing speed limits on rural portions of interstates to rise from 65 mph would increase the danger for motorists.

Fatalities on those highways, however, did not increase because drivers were already going faster than the speed limit, and the differences in drivers’ speeds were lowered, said Fred Mannering, a civil engineering professor at Purdue who was the study’s co-author.

The 70 mph speed limit was enacted by Senator Server’s SEA 217-2005.

My personal experience is, as Professor Mannering suggests, that the difference in speed is more significant than the speed itself. It’s always startling to see a car in front of you and find that you’re closing on it much more rapidly than you expected. I don’t know about others, but I find that I always feel like I’m more comfortable driving when I’m moving slightly faster than the average vehicle. If I’m doing that, it seems like most of my hazards are in front of me since fewer cars are closing on me from behind. Also, it feels like I spend lest time hemmed in by other traffic. And, with this approach, I emphatically am not recommending the practice of living in the left hand lane, moving 1 mile per hour faster than the guy in the right hand lane. That drives me nuts. When you catch up to the guy in front of you, get left, pass quickly, then get the heck over to the right again.

Just some friendly driving tips from a guy who has no particular business giving them.