On an icy February morning in 2021, slippery roads and limited visibility prompted a chain reaction of crashing cars on Interstate 35-W in Fort Worth, eventually leading to a pileup of 133 vehicles that left six people dead. State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg believes a bill he authored –going into effect Sept. 1– could have prevented that.
“That’s an instance when we know there were conditions that led to a catastrophic pileup,” Canales said. “It was studied by the federal government and the national highway agency, and ultimately their findings were that variable speed limits could have mitigated and completely prevented this accident from happening.”
House Bill 1885, signed into law this June, empowers local Texas Department of Transportation engineers– without approval from the statewide transportation commissioners –to temporarily change speed limits for a portion of a road or highway. The variable speed limit can be applied during roadway construction and maintenance, as well as inclement weather conditions like heavy fog, ice or rain.
