They say everything is bigger in Texas.
Is everything just a little bit faster, too?
Maybe not, but Texas DOES hold the distinction of having the highest speed limit in the country.
This top speed limit occurs on a single toll road in the state, and doesn’t last for very long.
Texas’s 85 MPH Speed Limit
The highest speed limit in Texas (and, in fact, in the entire United States) is 85 mph.
Texas’s 85 mph speed limit appears on State Highway 130 (also known as Pickle Parkway) between State Highway 45 in Austin and Interstate-10 in Seguin (about 40 miles east of San Antonio).
All in, the 85-mph segment of road runs 41 miles in length, less than half the length of SH 130. (The rest of the 91-mile toll road has lower speed limits.)
The 85 mph speed limit on Texas’s SH 130 is 10 mph above the state’s average speed limit of 75 mph on rural and urban interstates.
But it’s not the only road in the state with higher-than-average speed limits.
Segments of both I-10 and I-20 through Texas have maximum speed limits of 80 mph.
Though Texas isn’t alone in that. A handful of other states also have maximum interstate speeds of 80 mph.
These states are:
- Montana
- Nevada
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Wyoming
So, while Texas has a reputation for ridiculous speed limits – a lot of people think you can drive 90 mph or even 100 mph on Texas roads without getting a ticket (You can’t, don’t try it!) – the state’s top speed limit really isn’t that much faster than a lot of roads in the western half of the country.
Still, the 85-mph speed limit on Texas’s State Highway 130 IS the highest legal speed limit in the state and in the United States overall.
Not a single other road matches that 41-mile stretch when it comes to speed.