Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050196
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Only a day earlier, the cause had seemed as doomed as good taste in a "Smokey and the Bandit" trucking movie. But last-minute lobbying turned a 25-14 negative vote into a 23-16 victory.
Having already passed the House of Delegates, the measure needs only one more routine House vote and the governor's signature to become law.
"I think the time is right to bring Virginia's traffic speed limits up to date," said Sen. Kevin Miller, R-Harrisonburg.
The General Assembly voted in 1988 to let cars go 65 mph on rural stretches of interstate, but kept the limit for trucks at 55 mph. None of the states surrounding Virginia has a double speed limit, and supporters of change cite a recent University of Virginia study that found uniform limits to be safer.
But opponents argued that letting 80,000-pound rigs barrel along even faster than they do now would be a menace.
That sentiment carried the day on Tuesday. But senators agreed to reconsider that vote overnight, and in the intervening 24 hours senators from both sides twisted arms and pressed for support.
None of the senators who switched from opposition to support for higher limits was from Western Virginia. Sen. Jackson Reasor, D-Bluefield, did not vote when the bill was considered Tuesday but supported it Wednesday.
\ YEA OR NAY ON 65 MPH FOR TRUCKS
IN FAVOR: Sens. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount; Jackson Reasor, D-Bluefield; Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle; William Wampler, R-Bristol.
OPPOSED: Sens. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke; Madison Marye, D-Shawsville; Frank Nolen, D-New Hope; Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg.
by CNB