Continuing push against speed limiters in large trucks, OOIDA releases video

Grain Valley, MO – The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Associations has released a video demonstrating the dangers of speed limiters in large trucks, as part of a campaign opposing a proposed rule that would require installation of the devices on trucks, buses and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

The rule, proposed Aug. 26 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, suggests that capping speeds at 60, 65 or 68 mph could help prevent fatal crashes while saving an estimated $1.1 billion in fuel costs annually.

OOIDA maintains that the devices would lead to higher accident rates and increasingly clogged roadways. In the video, the association also claims speed limiters would increase pressure on drivers to make up for lost time and potentially drive faster in poor weather conditions. Additionally, OOIDA claims fuel savings would be wiped out by other vehicles having to accelerate and slow down more frequently when encountering trucks moving slower than the flow of traffic.

“Studies and research have already proven what we were all taught long ago in driver’s [education] classes, that traffic is safest when vehicles all travel at the same relative speed,” Norita Taylor, OOIDA’s director of public relations, said in a press release. “Limiting trucks to speeds less than the flow of traffic increases interactions between vehicles, which can lead to more crashes.”