2023-08-29 20:38:08
Several motor carrier associations are voicing support for the proposal to limit truck speeds in the United States, as lawmakers try to block such rules.
They even use the Ontario data to make their point.
Research cited by trucking groups includes data from 2018 from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation which show that the number of truckers found responsible for speeding in a collision dropped by 72.7% after this province made speed limiters mandatory. Furthermore, the proportion of large trucks hit from behind did not change. The conclusions of the study are limited to motorways where the speed is limited to 100 km/h. The researchers also noted that several large fleets were already limiting their speed before the speed limit obligation came into effect.
Since 2009, most trucks traveling in Ontario and Quebec must mechanically limit their speed to 105 km/h. Similar legislation has been proposed in British Columbia.
(Photo : iStock)
Fighting the DRIVE Act
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed its speed limiter regulations in April 2022. But the House of Representatives and the US Senate are seeking to defeat this project. THE Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles and Eighteen-Wheelers (DRIVE) Act was presented earlier this month to the Senate.
The Truck Safety CoalitionTHE Advocates for Highway and Auto Safetythe Trucking Alliance, Road Safe America and the National Safety Council released a statement saying they are “strongly opposed” to the DRIVE Act, saying the law would prevent the FMCSA from fulfilling its mission to reduce crashes.
Other groups, including l’Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OIDA)the Montana Trucking Associationthe Western State Trucking Association and the National Association of Small Trucking Companies supported the DRIVE Act.
“About 98% of the 62,000 trucks operated by Trucking Alliance carriers already use speed limiters because it’s safe for our drivers,” said Steve Williams, CEO of Maverick USA and President of the Trucking Alliance. “The science is clear. An 80,000 pound trailer takes much longer to stop when traveling at 80 miles per hour (129 km/h) than at 65 or 70 miles per hour (105 or 113 km/h). Everyone needs to slow down and allowing the FMCSA to continue its regulation is the right thing to do.”
Truck crash deaths have risen 71% since 2009, law groups note, adding that speeding continues to be a contributing factor. Citing data from the US Department of Transportation, they add that 20% of fatal truck crashes occur at speeds over 113 km/h (70 mph).
The number of fatal crashes in which speed is identified as a driver-related factor has increased by 50% since 2009, according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
“Serious security problems”
“Speed kills. Thousands of lives have been lost to speeding tractor-trailers, and I urge all members of Congress to reject the DRIVE Act that will allow this tragic loss of life to continue,” said Pam Biddle, member of the board of directors of the Truck Safety Coalition and of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways).
“This law poses serious security problems,” said the vice president in charge of government affairs of the National Safety Council.
“I used speed limiters and they allowed me to follow the speed limit when it would have been easy to exceed it. Excessive speed reduces the time the driver has to react to a dangerous situation in order to avoid an accident, increases the stopping distance of the vehicle and reduces the capacity of road safety structures, such as guardrails, attenuators impact absorbers, median separators and concrete barriers to reduce the impact of an accident. The use of speed limiters is a means of reducing these dangerous situations and ensuring the safety of all road users; we should encourage their use.”
“It is absurd that the United States still lags the majority of the civilized world in not mandating the use of built-in speed limiters in the heaviest vehicles,” added Steve Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America.
“The Trucking Alliance presents its opposition to the DRIVE Act in the form of a kind of sick argument concerning safety,” retorts Todd Spencer, president of OOIDA. “The number of speeding tickets and accidents committed by member carriers of this association clearly shows that speed limiters are not the silver bullet. If they were really worried, they would pay their drivers by the hour and reduce the pressure on them to drive faster in unsafe places.”
«L’ATAthe Trucking Alliance and other proponents of speed limiters believe they are in a better position than state departments of transportation to determine safe speeds for all road users,” added Jay Grimes, Director of Federal Affairs at OOIDA. .
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