By: Jeff Beach (ND Monitor)
A bill to raise the top speed limit to 80 mph in North Dakota failed by two votes Thursday in the House of Representatives.
The interstate speed limit change had previously passed the House but House Bill 1298 was later amended to increase speeding fines and other changes.
The bill needed 48 votes to pass and received 46 votes in favor with 45 against with three members absent.
Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England, spoke against the bill, saying most truckers were against the higher speed limit on interstate highways.
The bill could still be revived in the final days of the session, if a House member on the prevailing side of the vote asks for the bill to be reconsidered or an absent member asks for another vote.
A conference committee met several times to find a compromise on speeding fines that would both moderately increase fines and create a simpler formula for calculating fines. The six-member committee passed the compromise bill Tuesday on a 4-2 vote.
The bill also would allow for varying the speed limit depending on the driving conditions in some areas. Bill sponsor Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, said this likely would have been tested on Interstate 94 in the Valley City area, though the North Dakota Highway Patrol would have had to find the funding for the variable speed signs.
The bill also called for the Highway Patrol to study the point system associated with driving violations and the fees for traffic violations.
Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson, said in a conference committee meeting that North Dakota’s fines would still be lower than surrounding states, even with the increases.
Koppelman said some local officials had been calling for higher fines to deter speeding on residential streets.
