As a native East Coaster, I’ll never forget the first time I road-tripped out west. Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, and the Dakotas all have highway speed limits up to 80 mph. Texas is even experimenting with one 85 mph highway. Meanwhile, the East Coast states are stuck on their 65 mph limit—until now. New York State just introduced a bill to raise it.

Is it time to increase highway speed limits?

In January 1974, the United States passed a national maximum speed limit of 55 mph. President Nixon’s goal was to improve the average fuel economy during the gas crisis. Over the next decade, vehicles got faster, safer, and more fuel-efficient. Oil price increases also slowed down. In 1987, Congress allowed states to increase their speed limits to 65 mph. In 1995, it fully repealed the law, and multiple states increased various highway speed limits to as high as 80 mph. But other states remained stuck at 65 mph.

Think about it this way: the efficiency and safety systems in 1995 model-year cars were advanced enough that lawmakers softened on that 65 mph hard limit. Look how much safer and more efficient our vehicles have become in the past three decades. My colleague Erik Sherman reported that even with no mandated speed limit, the German Autobahn suffers fewer vehicle-related fatalities than U.S. highways.

New York State Bill S1500 / Assembly Bill A3571

New York State Senator Thomas O’Mara (R) introduced Senate Bill S1500 for the 2025–2026 legislative session. It “authorizes an increase in the maximum speed limit to 70 mph for travel on roadways that currently have a maximum speed limit of 65 mph.” It’s currently being debated in the Senate Transportation Committee, while the General Assembly Transportation Committee is debating an identical companion bill (Assembly Bill A3571).