Missouri drivers may soon be able to pick up the pace on rural highways

State Senator Jamie Burger, R-Cape Girardeau, has pre-filed a bill for the 2026 legislative session that would increase the maximum speed limit on rural interstates from 70 to 75 mph.

The proposal would bring Missouri in line with neighboring states such as Kansas and Arkansas, where similar limits are already in place

NewsTalkKZRG spoke with Senator Burger about Sponsored Bill 1408 that he pre-filed before the legislative session begins Wednesday, and asked what it’s all about.

He said, “We've basically been at 70 miles per hour since probably the mid-70s, roughly maybe early 80s. And technology has gotten so much more advanced as far as cars and trucks are concerned. I just think it's time to raise it to 75.

“What I'm saying is that in the truck and car that I have, which are fairly new, I have adaptive cruise control which slows you down automatically. I have the crash resistance which stops you in an emergency. I have blind spot alert, airbags, seat belts, every safety bell and whistle that you can have. I realize not all the vehicles out there are brand new. I realize there's a lot of older vehicles at the same time, but every day the old ones are getting replaced with newer ones, and everybody's upgrading their vehicles all the time across the state. So there's no reason for our speed limits not to be at 75.

“When I go to Memphis, Tennessee, I drive 80 miles in Missouri to get to the state line, and I drive roughly about 65 miles into Arkansas, and it goes from 70 to 75. And I see not one more accident on that stretch of road than I do on the Missouri stretch of road. So I think we have the technology with us now and no reason not to up the speed limits.

“I just think we live in a society that people are fast moving and want to get to where they want to get to. And I think if people say, well, it's going to raise accidents, I don't really know if that's true or not. I think the states that have raised their speed limits to 75, if they were having a multitude of accidents, I think they would rescind that. Another thing, too. 70 miles an hour in a 1980 Ford F150 pickup back in the day or 75 miles an hour in a Ford F150 pickup today, which one do you think would be safer?”

Is the bill likely to pass? “You know, I wish I had a big crystal ball to talk about legislation going forward this year, but I don't. So who knows? You know, 2% of the bills I think that were followed last year got to the governor's desk. So I say every bill has a slim chance of passing, but I seem to have a very, very large amount of support.”

You can view SB1408 by clicking the link below.

https://www.senate.mo.gov/26info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=701