Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
DOWN: To Honda, for killing off its two-stroke motocross bikes. That’s right, Big Red announced that 2007 would be the last model year for the two-stroke CR lineup, advising its dealers of this move in September. “This decision reflects Honda’s commitment to environmental leadership in the markets in which we compete,” said Honda VP Ray Blank. “U.S. market trends and the success of Honda’s revolutionary Unicam four-stroke motocross and off-road machines, bolstered by the 2007 CRF150R, make this a logical evolution of our product line.”
UP: To the state of Texas, for raising the speed limit on more than 500 miles of interstate to 80 mph. This includes a 432-mile stretch of 1-10 between Kerrville and El Paso, along with 89 miles of I-20 between 1-10 and Midland. Lone Star safetycrats argued that the higher limit would increase fatalities, but their claims were refuted by DOT data showing that when the limits were raised to 75 mph in 2002, traffic deaths on affected roads declined 13 percent over the next three years compared to the 19992001 period when the limit was 70 mph. What’s more, a 1997 Federal Highway Administration study on 100 different locations where speed limits had been changed reported that when limits were reduced, the number of accidents increased, whereas when limits were raised, the volume of crashes went down.
