10 States Face Loss of Highway Funds for Ignoring Speed Limit : California on List--Just Over Half Drive at 55 M.P.H.

WASHINGTON —  Millions of motorists are ignoring the 55-m.p.h. speed limit, according to the Federal Highway Administration, and 10 states, including California, are facing loss of federal highway money for failing to crack down on them.

Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole informed the governors of Arizona and Vermont this week that she plans to withhold up to 10% of their non-interstate road-building assistance because more than half of the states’ drivers are ignoring the speed limit.

But the Federal Highway Administration says Maryland, New Hampshire and Rhode Island also are close to losing highway money, and California, Nevada, Michigan, North Dakota and Maine barely meet the federal standard for compliance.

(California could lose as much as $30 million a year if the federal government takes action against the state, said Gene Berthelsen, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.

(Steve Kohler, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Sacramento, said the CHP writes more than 1 million speeding tickets a year in an effort to keep the violation rate under 50%.

(“There’s no question we want to avoid a cutoff of funds and we’ll continue to strictly enforce the 55 limit, but, with a uniform staff of about 5,000 officers, we’re at the limit of our capability now,” he said.

(In fact, Kohler said, CHP studies show that an attempt to substantially reduce the 49.7% figure might well cost California, in additional expenditures for more officers, more money than it saves in federal funds.)

Long Negotiations

The actions against Arizona and Vermont culminate long negotiations and formal proceedings before a Transportation Department administrative law judge. None of the other cases have gotten that far along.

Under federal law, states must monitor their roadways to determine how many people abide by the speed limit.

If more than 50% of the motorists exceed the 55-m.p.h. speed limit--after certain adjustments are allowed because of possible speedometer variations and other factors--the government may withhold up to 10% of the state’s federal highway funds.

In the case of Arizona, that could mean a loss of $5.1 million this fiscal year, and in the case of Vermont about $1.9 million, although the amounts could be lowered if the states convince federal officials that there are “mitigating” circumstances or that there is a “hardship” situation.

According to 1985 statistics submitted to the Federal Highway Administration, at least four of every 10 drivers were found to exceed the posted 55-m.p.h. speed limit in 37 of the 50 states. Virginia (29.6%) and West Virginia (26.5%) were the only states to show that fewer than 30% of their drivers were speeding.

The states with the highest violation rate were: Arizona, 56.4%; Rhode Island, 54%; Vermont, 53.2%; New Hampshire, 50.4%; Nevada, 49.9%; Michigan, 49.8%, and California, North Dakota and Maine, all at 49.7%.

Maryland posted a 55.9% compliance rate in 1984, but last year’s figures are in dispute and no final decision on how to deal with Maryland has been made.