In December 1995, Congress repealed the National Maximum
Speed Limit (NMSL), which had been 55 mi/h on urban Interstates
and 65 mi/h on rural Interstates and certain rural Interstate
look-alikes. Full authority to set posted speed limits
on all public roads returned once again to State and local
governments, ending 20 years of Federal involvement with
national speed limits. The National Highway System Designation
Act of 1995 (which contained the repeal) also ended the
requirement that States provide travel speed data to FHWA;
Congress had linked noncompliance with the NMSL to possible
loss of Federal funds. In 1997, the U.S. DOT developed
the formal speed policy and
implementation strategy in use today.
For
more information: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speed_manage/policy.htm
