Commentary: Need for Speed?
Deborah Lockridge
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Deborah Lockridge
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It’s a matter of physics.
That’s what Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in announcing a proposal to mandate speed limiters in heavy trucks.
“Even small increases in speed have large effects on the force of impact,” Rosekind said in a statement “Setting the speed limit on heavy vehicles makes sense for safety and the environment.”
The proposal, announced Aug. 26 by NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, doesn’t call for a specific speed limit. Instead, it outlines the estimated benefits of 60, 65 and 68 mph and asks for comments on the wisdom of those speeds — or what other speeds commenters believe would be best.
The concept of speed limiters on heavy trucks is supported by safety advocacy groups and the American Trucking Associations, although the preferred details differ.
On the other hand, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has long argued against speed limiters, on the grounds that differentials in speed “increase interactions between vehicles, which increases the likelihood of crashes.”
In reality, many trucks on the road today are speed-limited by their fleet owners for both fuel-saving and safety benefits. In its proposal, the agencies cite a 2012 FMCSA study of 15,000 crashes that analyzed 20 such fleets. Trucks using speed limiters had a ratio of 1.6 crashes per 100 trucks per year, while those without had a ratio of 2.9.
Speed limiters are already a reality in other parts of the world, including Ontario and Quebec (105 kilometers per hour, or about 65 mph), Japan (90 kph/56mph), Australia (100 kph/62 mph, lower for road trains) and the European Union (100 kph/62 mph).
I’ve been on highways in Germany, where the trucks are speed-limited but in many rural areas of the autobahn there’s no speed limit for cars. Plenty of opportunity for big speed differentials …Read the rest of this story
