ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Truck regs expert knocks speed-limiter lobby campaign

TORONTO — The director of a consultancy group specializing in Ontario highway traffic laws says he isn’t impressed with the way the controversial speed-limiter proposal in being promoted by advocates.

In an exclusive interview with TodaysTrucking.com, Anthony Rebkowec, director of corporate and government training with Windsor University-based Royal Ontario Weights and Measures, says neither the Ontario Trucking Association, which brought forth the plan for mandatory speed limiters set at 105 km/h on all trucks in the province; nor the Ministry of Transportation, which is currently deciding whether to green light the plan for legislation, is paying enough attention “to market response” from drivers.

The MTO has still not made a decision whether to approve the proposal by OTA, which successfully exported the initiative to other provincial trucking associations earlier this month. The other associations agreed they would each lobby their respective transport ministries for speed limiters in hopes of getting coast-to-coast adoption of the plan.

The OTA, which is joined by several safety and environmental advocacy groups, as well as vehicle equipment interests, is not supported by many independent owner-ops and private fleets. The Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada, along with the Private Motor Truck Council, sent comments to MTO opposing mandatory speed limiters.

Rebkowec doesn’t oppose speed limiters per se, but doesn’t
like how some truckers feel left out of the debate

Rebkowec, a former MTO official who now trains and consults Ontario carriers as well as highway enforcement personnel on the Highway Traffic Act and CVSA standards, says his group does not have an official position on the concept of speed limiters, adding that ROWM would easily “work with the rules” if governors were made mandatory.

Nevertheless, while he refuses “want to get into a three-way argument between independent drivers and the OTA,” he doesn’t think the views of truck drivers and owner-operators are being taken very seriously by proponents of speed limiters and believes the stakes are large enough to warrant more research, perhaps even a task force made up of professionals to study the issue further, before any one province makes a decision on its own.

“Here’s this great debate that could affect the economy of Canada, and I don’t think there’s enough research … (or) consideration to how transport drivers and the general public may be affected by this proposal,” he says.

Based on a survey it commissioned in February, the OTA sates that over 70 percent of Ontarians support the idea of capping speed on truckers’ engines at 105 km/h, while 79 percent believe the plan would an impact on improving highway safety.

TodaysTrucking.com later reported that out of those totals, 40 percent of respondents strongly believe the plan would make roads safer, while 39 percent thought it would have a minor impact. Nineteen percent said it would have no effect. In the first question, 44 percent “strongly” supported speed limiters, while 27 percent were only somewhat in agreement.

In letter to the OTA, Rebkowec took exception with the poll results, adding that the public may not be as supportive as OTA indicated in their survey.

“The population sought may have been limited,” he wrote. “There is no indication that sample surveys were done periodically throughout other quarters and combined to show alternative data. The report also fails to identify the geographical area the survey was conducted, how it was conducted, and who was responsible for the initiating the survey — any of which may prove bias.”

Furthermore, while trying to gauge the public’s opinion is important, Rebkowec suggested an attempt to survey drivers — the ones he says “would be most affected” by such a legislative mandate — would be even more useful.

The OTA did not respond in time of this posting.

Generally, Rebkowec agrees with arguments posed by OBAC Executive Director Joanne Ritchie and other truck drivers who insist speeding truck drivers isn’t a problem big enough worth regulating via a microchip, and any repeat offenders could easily be taken off the road by stepping-up laws already on the books.

Furthermore, if the issue was solely based on cracking down on truck speeds, says Rebkowec, the OTA and safety advocates could push the government to require MTO officials to assist police in enforcing all aspects of the Highway Traffic Act.

“Even right now, the MTO can enforce speeding,” he says. “The Ministry just doesn’t want them to do it. They can be out there doing the exact same thing beyond compliance type infractions. It’s whether or not the ministry wants to move in that direction. Would that curb some of this (speeding), if in fact (a problem) exists? I don’t know for sure. But there are many options that can be tried first.”