Editorial: The Speed Limiter Debate
This Editorial appears in the Oct. 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
It looks as if the comments on the speed-limiter proposal for heavy trucks will give the federal government plenty of reading material this winter.
As this story says, nearly 3,000 comments have already been sent in to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And that does not include comments from many larger groups, such as American Trucking Associations, which have said they will respond prior to next month’s deadline.
The proposal, published Sept. 7, does not specify a speed that could be adopted in a final rule but suggests that setting limiters at 60 mph, 65 mph or 68 mph would save lives and reduce fuel use. It also comes about a decade after ATA and other groups initially called for a mandate.
When factoring the combination of the delay in issuing a proposal — and the confusion of a proposal with three separate speeds mentioned — it should be no surprise that people have not shied from sharing their opinions.
“I already drive a governed company truck. It is hard to try to stay out of the way of the flow of traffic,” Christopher Rickbrodt of Riverview, Florida, wrote. “In the Western states, where some speed limits are as high as 85 mph, running at 65 mph is really dangerous to other drivers who can’t judge the closing rate. I hate to say it, but either slow everyone down or leave it alone.”
Said Robert Jewett, a retired truck driver and chairman of the New Hampshire Professional Drivers Association: “I have over 42 years of commercial driving, and from what I hear and have seen is trucks at a lower speeds will be in the way of motorists, therefore causing more accidents making motorists at times take more chances.”
These are not people looking for ways to cut safety corners and make a few more bucks by putting the “pedal to the metal.”
The majority are truly concerned with the unintended consequences of having trucks and cars traveling at different speeds, especially when the limit on a highway is above 70 mph.
All of this comes a week after ATA President Chris Spear expressed similar concerns about what he called a “flawed” proposal.
It unfortunately sounds like it still will be a while before there is a final mandate. We can only hope trucking’s voice will be heard and a final mandate will reflect their serious safety concerns.
