Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!cbosgd!ihnp4!ihlpa!animal From: animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr) Newsgroups: net.politics,net.cycle,net.auto Subject: Re: Seat belts, Helmets and Freedom of Choice Message-ID: <1599@ihlpa.UUCP> Date: Tue, 29-Jul-86 14:37:10 EDT Article-I.D.: ihlpa.1599 Posted: Tue Jul 29 14:37:10 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 31-Jul-86 04:46:13 EDT References: <5348@sun.uucp> <6133@sri-spam.ARPA> <543@ur-tut.UUCP> <668@polaris.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 24 Xref: watmath net.politics:17837 net.cycle:1872 net.auto:11967 > > ...are tollways considered private? if so, the people running them could > impose just about any safety laws they wanted. > > Herb Chong, IBM Research... > I don't know about California, but here in Illinois the Tollway system is considered a private road owned by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, a private corporation owned by the state of Illinois. The tollway is proud to remind us that no tax dollars are used in its construction or maintenance (but you still pay road tax on the gas you buy at its service plazas). So in theory they could raise the limit (and in practice, there is frequently very lax enforcement on several well-known stretches of the system--especially the stretch of Illinois 5 in the western part of the state, the one which is paralleled by non-toll I-80). This is unlikely, since our current (and probably future, since he is running unopposed) governor is a big fan of 55. An interesting item in the newspaper last week described a proposal to build a private tollway from Pueblo, Colorado to Denver to relieve the congestion on I-25. The backers of the plan stated that the road would have a speed limit of 80 mph, and could do so without fear of government reprisal because the road is private.