US wants to force lower speeds on truck and bus drivers

[burfordTjustice]

WTF??

A new proposal Friday would impose a nationwide limit by electronically capping speeds with a device on newly made U.S. vehicles that weigh more than 26,000 pounds. Regulators are considering a cap of 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour, though that could change.

Whatever the speed limit, drivers would be physically prevented from exceeding it.

The government said capping speeds for large vehicles will reduce the

+1,115 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks+ that occur each year and save $1 billion in fuel costs.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per burfordTjustice:

"But Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the 157,000-member Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, said her group has opposed the speed limiters because they create dangerous interactions between vehicles as faster cars slow down for trucks. "Differentials in speed increase interactions between vehicles, which increases the likelihood of crashes," Taylor said."

Understood she's a paid industry spin doctor... but, even so, that rings true to me given the lack of lane discipline in the USA.

Seemed to me like it was working on the Autobahns I drove on 20 years ago.... but that was then and this is now.... and then everybody was playing by the same rules.

[Kurt V. Ullman]

There are plenty of studies showing that differences in speed between trucks and cars in an important part of safety on highways. Also, you will note that that it said it will reduce the 1100 crashes but not by how much. The other thing is even if started today, given the average age of the fleet you won't see enough trucks on the roads to make a difference for 10 or 15 years at the earliest.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Absolutely. I've seen instances where a driver was going the speed limit and causing problems as others tried to move around them. Trucks with a 60 mph will cause problems.

[Frank]

I was under the impression that there were speed limits for trucks on the Autobahn. Also heard they had to contain a chart recorder (this was

30 years ago while on tour there) and police could stop them and fine them for speeding even though they exceeded it hours ago.

[Ralph Mowery]

Anytime someone, or especially several are going less than the flow of traffic there will be problems.

I saw a computer demonstration of this,and then a real time from a helocopter as how the slower driver can cause a big backup or other problem.

[gfretwell]

I see a thriving business in disconnecting these things

[RonNNN]

"Speed governors" were around before I was even born.

[rbowman]

That was my observation when I was driving. Texas, for example, had a 60 mph speed limit for trucks. It was bad enough when you were rolling down I20 out by Odessa but in more congested areas like DFW cars were always weaving around the slow movers.

In this state the interstate limit in many places for cars is 80 while the trucks theoretically are doing 65. You can certainly come up on one fast.

The trucks I was driving were governed at 65 for fuel economy so it didn't make too much difference until you got back east with the 55 mph limits.

[rbowman]

The company I drove for had the trucks governed to 65. I believe most of the larger fleets also limit the speeds for fuel economy.

[rbowman]

The other shoe to drop is electronic log books.

[Neill Massello]

I do very little highway driving, but I think there's still a lower limit for trucks on the fastest (75 and 80mph) Texas highways.

[Buck]

My $100 Garmin GPS displays the speed limit for most any road. Why not just tie the speed governor to a GPS database?

[Kurt V. Ullman]

And reconnecting them just before inspections.

[clare]

up here in Ontario Canada ( and I believe Quebec too) trucks are limited to 105kph - with speed limitters.Defeating the speed limit device carries a much larger fine than the speeding fine.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Kurt V. Ullman:

Yeah... that jumped out at me right away.

OTOH, in Germany - with everybody playing by the same rules - I drove on

4-6 lane freeways where triple tractor trailers pulling out to pass at 45 mph were sharing the road with Porsches going 150+ mph and the Germans *claim* a lower death rate per freeway mile than in the USA.

But even if the claim is true, I would think it all hinges on everybody playing the same set of rules and having a consistent/rational/functional set of rules.

Call me a cynic, but I do not see either one happening in the USA anytime soon. Differences between states for one.... A population of adults functioning at mental level of 12-year-olds for another..... Fold in an almost universal lack of mandatory driver training and it seems pretty much hopeless.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per RonNNN:

There's a company that operates around here which seems to have them on all it's vehicles (65 MPH IIRC).... can't think of the company's name... but every time I see one of their trucks it seems to be creating it's own minor traffic flow problem.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per rbowman:

I recently started subscribing to AutoMile. They send you this little black thing about an inch long that plugs into the car's diagnostic port.

Every two minutes it phones home and reports the vehicles position.

$15 per month for one vehicle.... less per vehicle as more vehicles are added.

To make a long story short: there are no secrets anymore from anybody who is authorized to log into the fleet's AutoMile web page: speeds, routes, vehicle stats.... and more...

When I was shopping, I came across several such services.... so that could be the "Electronic Logbook": pretty much immune to tampering since it exists on a server somewhere instead of in the vehicle.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Ed Pawlowski:

When I drive down the shore with my 21' surfski on the roof, I limit myself to 65 (the posted limit on The Atlantic City Expressway) because of the prospect of wind loads on the ski.

Last time I counted, 138 vehicles passed me - and none slowly.

OTOH, I passed 2 vehicles: a cabover deuce-and-a-half that was getting blown around in the wind, and a clapped out maxivan doing about 50 in the hammer lane.

Right lane on that road moves at 71-73 depending. Left lane moves at

75 absolute minimum.... sometimes high seventies.... individuals seem to be frequently doing 80+.

I sense a safety issue for myself doing 65: every so often some guy closes on me, whips out to pass, and then whips back in with very, very little room to spare.... A few inches misjudgment by one of those guys, and I have an impact on my side front/steering wheels...... dunno what the consequences of that are, but I can't imagine they are anything but pretty severe.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Frank:

That rings true to me. Trucks there weren't going anywhere near as fast as cars/motorcycles.