Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that speed limits across highways in the country will be increased to 130 kph (80.7 mph) in some and 140 kph in others. The new limits will be valid starting on July 1.
The move aims to cut travel times on modernized, expanded highways of the country and occasional traffic.
Speed limit for the Edirne-Istanbul, the Istanbul-Ankara, the Niğde-Mersin-Şanlıurfa, the Tarsus-Şanlıurfa, the Çeşme-İzmir-Aydın highways was raised to 130 kph from current 120 kph, while current speed limit of 120 kph was increased to 140 kph for sections of North Marmara Highway, including the Sakarya-Kurtköy-Odayeri-Kınalı section, along with the Malkara-Çanakkale, the Gebze-İzmir, the Menemen-Çandarlı and the Ankara-Niğde highways.
The standard speed limit for future highways will also be 140 kph.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu had announced plans to increase the speed limits on May 5 and has said they aimed to implement it by July 1. Exceeding the speed limits is subject to fines.
Though some on social media hailed the decision, others expressed concerns that it may heighten the accident risk, fuel consumption and relevant emissions.
Traffic accidents are a primary concern in the country's road safety efforts. According to official figures, their number increased last year after a lull during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited travel. The country reported more than 1.1 million accidents in 2021 and 5,362 fatalities in those accidents. However, the majority of accidents occurred in residential areas rather than long stretches of highways straddling uninhabited areas. Moreover, the majority of accidents stemmed from drivers' faults rather than road conditions.
Turkey has improved its road network in the past two decades, renovating old, poorly maintained roads and building vast highways. The construction of highways was accelerated thanks to a public-private partnership scheme.
