Topeka ? Kansas lawmakers Tuesday agreed to boost to 75 mph the speed limit on some Kansas highways, but don’t step on the accelerator just yet.

The measure faces a roadblock in the form of a disagreement over how tickets should affect a speeder’s driving record.

“I’m all for it,” Chris Zellers, who commutes to Olathe from Lawrence, said of increasing the limit. “I don’t mind driving fast. I drive on K-10 quite a bit, and I always drive 75 anyway.”

The bill would authorize the 75 mph limit on four-lane divided highways where motorists currently may drive 70 mph.

But when Lawrence resident Gail Kipp heard the House approved the faster speed Tuesday on a 64-61 vote, she wondered aloud about misplaced priorities at the Statehouse.

“We have a deficit, or virtually one, and we have a crisis in our education, and our government found time to raise the speed limit five miles an hour?” she said. “I guess I’m confused. Anyway, the way gas prices are going up; I’d be inclined to slow down and save gas.”

Officials of the Kansas Department of Transportation have said they would probably post a 75 mph limit only on rural sections of federal interstate highways. Roads lacking medians or barriers would not qualify.

The Senate approved its version of the bill last month, but the two chambers are at odds over language on the effects of speeding tickets — and what that means about the effective speed limit on interstates.

Supporters of the idea say it’s an economic development tool that would put Kansas on equal footing with other Midwestern and Western states that have higher speed limits. Increasing the speed limits, they say, would entice more cross-country motorists to use Interstate 70 across Kansas instead of detouring across Nebraska on Interstate 80.

6News video: Legislature paves way for new speed limit Senate passes 75 mph speed limit legislation (2-27-04)

But the vote was close in the House because some members worried that a higher speed limit would lead to more traffic deaths.

Zellers said he didn’t think that would be the case.

“I tend to think that people are paying a little more attention when they’re driving faster than if they’re driving 55,” he said. “I used to drive motorcycles a lot, and I noticed that when I drove fast — like 75 or 80 — I was a lot more attentive to what was going on than if I was driving 55.”

Speeding violations, which affect auto insurance rates, currently are noted on a driver’s record only if he or she is caught driving at least 10 mph above a posted limit of 55 mph or more.

The House bill would keep the 10 mph buffer intact, but the Senate’s version narrows the buffer to just 5 mph in 75 mph zones.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Les Donovan, R-Wichita, opposes the 10 mph buffer and said he would force negotiations on the bill rather than accept the House language.

Donovan said that with a 10 mph buffer, motorists would feel they can avoid a blemish on their records even if they’re caught driving 84 mph.

“That’s probably too much,” he said.

If senators voted to accept the 10 mph buffer, the measure would go to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If the Senate forces negotiations, both chambers would have to vote on a final, compromise bill.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Gary Hayzlett said he was worried a few House members would reconsider their “yes” votes if the measure came up for another vote in that chamber.

“It probably wouldn’t survive,” said Hayzlett, R-Lakin.