Legal Speed Limits Going Down in Portions of the DFW Metroplex

Talking about following speed limits in Texas can be a bit of a touchy subject. Most follow the posted speed limit on any given road or highway. But there is that contingent of people who believe the speed limit law myths so much, they believe it to be fact. For instance, 5 miles over the speed limit is okay or the left lane has a different speed limit than the right lane. For DFW drivers, their speeding tickets are about to become more expensive as legal limits are about to go down in some areas.

Biggest Speed Limit Myth

The biggest myth around speed limits is that we can drive 5 miles per hour over the limit and not get a ticket. I know it's a myth because I have been pulled over twice for going 5 miles over the speed limit and ticketed for it both times. Sgt. Marc Couch told KTXS that it's a huge misconception that highway patrol won't pull you over for it. Yes, some officers may give a driver a little leniency with the speed limit but that doesn't mean every officer will or that it's legal.

Driving along the highways of Dallas or Houston or Austin can be a perfect example of drivers who believe traffic law myths. While most will follow the legal speed limits that are set, there are always those select few drivers who will drive at 5, 10, 15 even 20 miles over the posted speed limit. That poses a great danger to all of the other law abiding drivers on the road around those speeders.

Speed Study in DFW

The Texas Department of Transportation conducted a speed study recently on U.S. 75. In that study, they found that drivers will regularly exceed 100 miles per hour on that highway. That report says speeding has lead to 18 deaths and 78 serious injuries over the last five years (mysanantonio.com).

Because of that study, a portion of U.S. 75 from Mockingbird Lane to Woodall Rogers Freeway will have a posted speed limit of 65 instead of the current 70 mph posted speed limit. Not a big difference, sure, but it will cause a penalty increase for a speeding ticket in that area. Several other streets will also see speed limit changes:

• Bonnie View Road/Sunnyvale Street to Wadsworth Drive reduced to 40 mph
• Pemberton Hill Road to C.F. Hawn Freeway reduced to 40 mph
• Ledbetter Drive to Bonnie View Road/Sunnyvale Street reduced to 40 mph
• Edgelake Drive to U.S. 175 reduced to 40 mph
• Wadsworth Drive to Pemberton Hill Road reduced to 45 mph

The next time you're in Dallas, pay attention to those posted speed limits. If you speed and are caught, your ticket will go up.

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