65-M.P.H. Road Speed Backed in Senate Vote : Highway Bill Amendment Restricts Increase to Rural Interstates; Current Limit Called ‘a Joke’

WASHINGTON —  The Senate, conceding that the 55-m.p.h. speed limit is so widely disregarded that it has become what one senator termed “a joke,” voted Tuesday to allow states to lift the limit to as high as 65 m.p.h. on rural interstate highways.

The amendment, which was most vigorously supported by senators representing sprawling Western states, was approved by a vote of 56 to 36. Its fate will be determined in a conference committee, where differing Senate and House bills must be reconciled.

“I know of no law in the country, particularly west of the Mississippi, that causes more skepticism of Big Brother in Washington than (this) seemingly unenforceable law,” said Sen. Steven D. Symms (R-Ida.), the prime sponsor of the measure.

‘Small Price to Pay’

However, opponent Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.) argued that raising the limit would cut only three minutes off the average highway trip and said that “a few minutes is a small price to pay for saving lives.” He quoted a study by the Transportation Research Board, part of the non-governmental National Academy of Sciences, predicting that the measure could cause 500 deaths a year.

The amendment was attached to legislation that would authorize spending $52.4 billion from the federal Highway Trust Fund over the next four years on scores of transportation projects. Included in that overall amount is money earmarked for mass transit, from which the federal government would pay its share of the costs of Los Angeles’ Metro Rail subway project. Appropriations specifically for Metro Rail would require separate legislation.

Because the speed-limit amendment is restricted to rural interstate highways, it would allow higher speeds on only 1,300 of California’s 4,000 freeway miles, the California Transportation Department has estimated. Any increase must be initiated and approved by the state.

The Senate is expected to resume consideration of the transportation bill today.

The amendment has uncertain prospects of becoming law. It was defeated in the 435-member House last month, but by such a close margin--20 votes--that the Senate could prevail when the highway bill reaches a House-Senate conference committee. The idea of allowing higher speed limits on some roads has the support of President Reagan, Symms said.

“The public out there thinks that this 55 is ridiculous,” Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.) said. “This thing breeds contempt for the law . . . . It’s a joke.”

Until 1974, the federal government set no maximum speed limit. Instead, it gave individual states the authority to determine how fast to allow motorists to travel on their highways. The 55-m.p.h. limit was imposed as an energy-conserving measure after the Arab oil embargo caused gasoline shortages and sent fuel prices soaring. States that did not comply faced the prospect of losing their federal highway funds.

Reduction in Deaths Claimed

Stafford said it has been estimated that the lower speed limit saves as many as 4,000 lives a year and has prevented much larger numbers of serious injuries.

“The interstate highway system may be designed for speeds over 55, but drivers in smaller cars are not,” he said.

Nonetheless, with gasoline now plentiful, motorists have grown increasingly restless under the constraints of the law, particularly in Western states such as California, where many cities are separated by vast expanses of highway.

In California, Symms said, enforcing the current speed limit costs $3 million a year, and he argued that the funds could be better spent on apprehending drunk drivers.

Sen. Chic Hecht (R-Nev.) attempted to add an amendment that would have made it possible for states to increase the speed limit on all rural highways, but that was defeated by a 60-36 vote.

‘Unneeded Intrusion’

Hecht said that the issue of raising the speed limit is “a simple matter of states’ rights,” and he described the 55-m.p.h. limit as an “unneeded intrusion into our daily lives.”

However, opponents countered that the federal government has long exercised power over other aspects of highway safety, such as requiring padded dashboards.

Stafford said that raising the speed limit would not make the law any easier to enforce. “If the speed limit is raised to 65 m.p.h., there will be those who believe that means they can drive 75,” he said.

California Republican Pete Wilson voted for the amendment. Democrat Alan Cranston was not present.

In other action on the highway bill, the Senate approved on a voice vote an amendment by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) to waive environmental restrictions blocking construction of a 10-mile highway through Oahu’s Haiku Valley from the Honolulu vicinity to the windward side of the island.