AUSTIN, Texas — Yeehaw! Texans who brag they do things bigger and better now can go faster too.
State transportation officials on Thursday boosted speed limits on two stretches of rural highway from 75 mph to 80 mph — the United States’ highest posted speed limit.
More speed signs will be changed in the next few days in 10 mostly rural counties in West Texas: a 432-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between El Paso and Kerrville, and 89 miles of Interstate 20 between Monahans and the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains.
Congress set a national 55 mph speed limit in the 1970s but it was abolished in 1995. Twelve states besides Texas have speed limits of 75 mph on some roads.
While drivers on I-10 can blow by the sleepy town of Sonora, highway safety advocates warn the higher speeds will cause more fatal crashes.
“This will result in more deaths. The research is pretty clear about that,” said Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “You get someplace faster but at what cost?”
woulda been nice if this had been the case when I drove cross country 
