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Show Permanent 55 Mile Per Hour Speed Limit The Utah Transportation Commission has adopted a permanent 55 miles per hour speed limit for the state. The action came Wednesday evening in Nephi at the conclusion con-clusion of the final public hearing on the proposed permanent per-manent rule. The other two hearings were this month in St. George and Salt Lake City. The commission made permanent per-manent an emergency rule which had been adopted in August after the Utah Supreme Court had struck down an earlier resolution setting the 55 mile per hour limit. The commissioners said safety was the primary reason for making the speed limit permanent. Commissioner Com-missioner Clem H. Church, Panguitch, who earlier had opposed the speed limit, said he changed his mind because of the number of lives that had been saved by the 55 miles per hour limit. He said that in 1974, over 9,000 lives had been saved across the nation and that number represented more than the combined populations of Kane, Garfield, and Piute Counties. Commissioner Church made the motion to adopt the permanent limit. Charles E. Ward, Transportation Transpor-tation Commissioner from Ogden, seconded the motion saying that he had always been in favor of the speed limit for safety reasons. Commissioner Wayne S. Winters, Win-ters, Provo, made the vote unanimous. Commissioners R. LaVaun Cox, Salt Lake City, and Samuel J. Taylor, Moab, were unable to attend the last hearing. The 55 miles per hour limit was mandated by Congress in late 1973. States that do not aggressively enforce the 55 miles per hour limit have been threatened with the loss of federal highway construction construc-tion dollars. If the state limit were more than 55 miles per hour, Utah could lose $77 million a year, which represents the bulk of Utah's highway construction budget. Governor Scott M. Matheson has said that he intends in-tends to recommend the Utah Legislature adopt a statutory maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour. |