(Radio Iowa) – A move to raise the speed limit to 60 on Iowa highways where the posted speed is 55 has passed another hurdle in the statehouse. The bill cleared the Iowa Senate in March of last year and a House subcommittee advanced it this (Wednesday) afternoon. Representative Megan Jones of Spirit Lake says there’s a lot of interest among House Republicans in passing a bill to hike the speed limit.

“And the senate, certainly, in sending it over send us a message that they’re interested in increasing the speed limit,” Jones said, “and so I think we need to have this conversation on a bigger level and make sure that Iowans know that we’re at least entertaining the conversation.” The Iowa Department of Public Safety is registered on the legislature’s website as undecided on the bill, but Josie Wagler — the department’s legislative liaison — suggested a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety could be a warning sign.

“Their analysis of 25 years of changes showed that each 5 mile per hour increase in the maximum state speed limit was associated with an 8% increase in fatality rates,” Wagler said. “So if that 8% increase were to be applied to Iowa’s fatality county from last year that would be about 20 additional fatalities.” The number of traffic deaths in Iowa last year was the lowest in a century.

Representative Jones, who is chair of the House Transportation Committee, says it seems like Iowans are doing the right things when it comes to highway safety.”And so if we can continue to be mindful of the things that keep us safe on the roads, then maybe we can increase the speed limit and get us there a little bit faster.”

The State Police Officers Council opposes increasing the speed limit on Iowa highways. The speed limits on the interstates that run through Iowa were raised to 70 in 2005.