Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/734262
30 | Overdrive | October 2016 PUSHING THE LIMIT crashes involving trucks and passenger cars, rear-end crashes are the most com- mon. In 2014's fatal crash data, trucks were struck in the rear in 21 percent of the crashes, compared to 7 percent in which trucks struck the other vehicle. Artificial speed differentials could cause more rear-end collisions with slower trucks, though that correlation was not part of the report. Speed differentials aside, several studies over past decades conclude that slower speeds are safer. A 2012 study from the Institute for Road Safety Research in the Netherlands found that as "speeds become higher, the crash rate will also increase. … Crashes also result in more serious injury, for the driver who caused the crash as well as for the crash opponent." In a 2006 study, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program found that raising speed limits from 55 to 65 mph caused crash rates to rise 3 per- cent. It also concluded that the same 55 to 65 mph increase increased the likeli- hood of a fatal injury 24 percent. Comments submitted by truckers in the first few weeks of the 60-day public comment period for the speed limiter proposed rule show fervent opposition. The period ends Nov. 6. To file a comment of your own, visit OverdriveOnline.com/speedrule, which goes directly to the rule's Regulations.gov com- ment page. Or mail written comments to: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 Washington, DC 20590-0001 Here are some of the early comments: Regardless of where you set the governor at, you might as well start counting the death toll rate going up. It has been proven time after time that the split speed lim- its will cause more deaths, both drivers of trucks and four-wheelers. You need to teach people to use common sense. — Joseph Harvey, Topeka, Kansas This proposed rule will increase truck traffic and increase congestion on our already crowd- ed infrastructure. … This new proposal in concert with the crazy 14/10 hour rule will only burden our nation with higher transporta- tion costs and more truck traffic. We as an industry need to be able to move freight at the same posted limit as the motoring pub - lic. Consider all of the frustrated motorists who will be making poor passing choices, increasing their chances for collision with oncoming traffic in an attempt to move ahead of slower-moving Class 8 trucks. — Brock Bordner, Chilton, Texas As a small fleet owner/partner, I see this as just another way the federal government is trying to micromanage my business. We stay in business by making good decisions and operating safely and efficiently. This will just make it harder for us to do that. — Doug Davey, Olathe, Kansas I've investigated a lot of acci- dents in the past 25 years. Had plenty where we decided our driver was operating over his/her head for the conditions. Had zero where a cop looked at me and said 'If only your truck ran faster, none of this would have happened.' The biggest disrupter in this process will be the need to recalculate mil - lions of freight moves that might be tight with the current speed limits. And perhaps the 'states' rights' arguments that they reserve the right to set the speed for heavy trucks. — Anonymous commenter With 23 years in the trucking industry, I must say I am strictly opposed to speed limiters of any type in my equipment. Speed dif- ferentials of all types have been found to be unsafe in many stud- ies, which has led to the vast majority of states to abandon split speed limits. I see this as an unin- formed decision, an overreach of government authority, an uninvited intrusion into my trucking busi- ness, and an attempt to revisit the failure that was the national speed limit. A nation of individuals will never thrive with this type of 'one size fits all' legislation from unelected bureaucracies. — M.C. Groff Mandating governors on com- mercial trucks will cause crashes by illegally putting drivers to sleep with boredom, illegally reducing the amount of sleep drivers get, creating illegal road hazards of slow trucks. — John Davis Please, keep your hands off of my truck. I don't need government either forcing me or coercing me to save fuel. As an independent busi- nessman, I already do this myself. And I don't need the government either forcing me or coercing me to drive safely. I have a family, and getting back to them safely at the end of the day is my number-one priority. — Kevin Levine, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania MOST TRUCKER COMMENTS OPPOSE LIMITERS