Speed limiters do more harm than good: Driver poll

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The number one concern for company drivers if speed limiters become mandatory on North American highways is the lack of speed truckers would have to pass other slow-moving vehicles.

A recent survey conducted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Foundation in the U.S., asked about 3,500 OOIDA members who identified themselves as company drivers if they think speed limiter legislation would make roads safer and reduce accidents.

Land Line — the official publication for OOIDA — says about 60 percent of respondents indicated they drive for a company with voluntary speed limiters on their trucks, with almost all of those vehicles set at speeds of 68 mph and slower.

Studies suggests that speed limiters on all trucks could
cause ‘cluster congestion’ because of a lack of passing speed.

The company drivers were asked to rank their concerns about the use of speed limiters. The top concern cited was a lack of passing speed, followed by increased congestion, and a fear of being rear-ended.

The Truckers ranked “the need to drive longer to get miles” as the fourth greatest concern, while the fifth was “more frequent passing by automobiles.”

Large carrier associations in both the U.S. and Canada and actively lobbying regional and federal governments to mandate speed limiters. In Canada, the Canadian Trucking Alliance wants speeds capped at 105 km/h.

It looks like Quebec may be the first province to listen. As reported by TodaysTrucking.com earlier this month, the Quebec Ministry of Transport recently tabled a bill that includes such things as mandatory speed governors on all trucks in the province, photo radar, tougher penalties for drunk drivers, and a ban on handheld cell phones.

The concerns mentioned by drivers echo findings from several studies on the issue, says OOIDA, including a report by Steven L. Johnson, Ph.D., at the Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center at the University of Arkansas.

The impact of lack of passing speed and congestion would result in what Johnson called “cluster congestion” in his study. He also notes that the concern of being rear-ended is real, as the likelihood of such accidents increase with a greater differential in speed between vehicles.

The survey also asked drivers if they exceed the speed limit on roads in areas where the speed limit is less than the speed limiter setting.

Nearly 74 percent of the company drivers who answered the question admitted to exceeding the speed limit at least sometimes.