A bill to allow States to increase the maximum speed limit on interstate highways in rural areas to 65 miles per hour.
Key claim: This Senate bill would let states raise the speed limit on rural interstate highways from 55 to 65 miles per hour.
Abstract
(S2552 · 99th Congress) Increases the maximum speed limit on interstate highways in rural areas from 55 to 65 miles an hour. Latest action (1986-06-12): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
Why this matters
The 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit imposed after the 1973 oil crisis was a long-running friction point between federal safety/fuel-conservation goals and state autonomy over rural roads. This 1986 bill is part of the legislative pressure that culminated in the 1987 STURAA compromise permitting 65 mph on rural interstates, and eventually full federal repeal in 1995. Tracking introductions like this shows how speed-limit authority migrated back to states.