A majority of all drivers support mandating speed-limiting devices on trucks, according to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey on driver attitudes and behavior.
Nearly half of the drivers surveyed think speeding is a problem, and 91% agreed with the statement that “everyone should obey the speed limits because it's the law.” But 60% of participants also agreed that they often get impatient with slower drivers, according to a telephone survey of 6,144 households conducted in 2011.
Three out of five drivers think mandating speed governors for trucks is a good idea, but only 24% would support the idea for all drivers, said the survey, released Dec. 11.
“An even higher proportion of drivers support mandatory use of speed governors for drivers under 18 [77%] and drivers with multiple speeding tickets [82%],” the survey’s authors wrote.
NHTSA, along with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is in the process of drafting a rule that would require speed limiters on all heavy trucks, including older vehicles on the road. FMCSA estimates the rule would prevent 1,115 fatal collisions annually.
The rule is being crafted in response to petitions filed in 2006 by American Trucking Associations, Road Safe America and nine motor carriers. The speed-limiter proposal could be out as early as March.
The results showed 30% of drivers could be classified as speeders, with 30% as nonspeeders, and 40% as sometime speeders, according to the report released Dec. 11.
“When we examine personal attitudes by driver type, drivers classified as speeders were almost three times as likely as sometime speeders to strongly agree with the statements, ‘I often get impatient with slower drivers’ [45% versus 18%], ‘I enjoy the feeling of driving fast’ (19% versus 6%), and ‘I try to get where I am going as fast as I can’ (11% versus 3%).”
