Should DOT mandate 68mph speed limiters?

Did you offer that as an insult, or a form of bragging? This issue has nothing to do with who owns what, or who drives what, nor whom they drive it for.

And this is a bad thing...why? I'm not a fan of mob mentality.

I'll illustrate this on a level that most will understand. Now I could assume that you are not a fan of forced lower speeds. I think that is a given.

But at the same time, how often do you give and/or benefit from a "bear report"? Is that a form of "coming together for the betterment of the industry"? No Siree. That's a big part of the problem out here.

Why would anyone NEED a bear report? It encourages drivers to speed, if they feel that there is relatively little chance in them being zapped. Correct?

Rampant disrespect for the laws set forth for the use of the roads, is what is at the core of this issue, and to see it any other way is ludicrous. So, more restrictive ways to bring about compliance is now being explored. It's the same reason why EOBR's will be mandated at some point in the future. It is why we have so much intrusion into our working lives.

Well of course, you are entitled to your opinion, but you don't necessarily have any lock on what is considered to be rational thought.

If it were not for people that view the roadways as a NASCAR track, and drive as if they were going for the pole position, this wouldn't be on the table. Forcing people to learn to follow, rather than to seek to lead all the time is what this has come to.

Do you know the flaw in your thinking, and what the problem really is out there? For some reason, for most all truck drivers, the consensus of opinion is that one MUST be able or allowed to drive at the maximum speed that the truck is capable of achieving. You know I'm right. We see it every day. Those that have fast trucks do it, and those that have slower trucks do it. Most of these guys would rather cut off their right arm, than to back off the accelerator.

Those that also hold that mentality, will cry and moan if another driver is not actively stomping on that gas pedal with every gear change, if they happen upon them after recently pulling out in front of them on a two lane road. If a driver slows to one mile under the speed limit in the scales, the sky is falling.

The mentality that any loss in speed, is equally related to a loss in revenue, is one of the most ludicrous theories offered in the history of man, yet so many hold that opinion.

So...changing the mentality on a voluntary level isn't getting anywhere, so you force a change by whatever means will accomplish it.

I don't think anyone has suggested otherwise. But a big complaint out there is in regard to some drivers that use their truck as an intimidation tool, and that crap has got to stop. FORCING them to slow it down, will certainly take a bite out of that issue, and just that quick.

You see, when idiots are behind the wheel of a car that weighs a couple of tons, the damage that they can do is nothing, when compared to what an idiot can do behind a vehicle that weighs 40 tons.

That's absolutely the "speeder's credo". I've read it many times. It's not born in anything considered credible, but hey...everyone has to justify what they do somehow...

And at the same time, the roads were not nearly as crowded, nor was their all of this need for speed. Truck drivers drove with respect. They set the examples for others. We were looked up to. We were admired. We were respected. What is our image today?

Well...Granny has this long nose Peterbilt with a "Sharktooth" bugscreen bearing down on her car in the mirror, while she is attempting to honor the speed limits. Motorists are scared out of their wits by fifty year old men when they grin as they pull the cord on their full set of train horns, hoping to effectively clear the lane in front of them. People will attempt to maintain control of their vehicles, when that big ole' large car whizzes on by, pushing wind to it's side, much like the Titanic did with waves in the ocean.

Does the above describe us all? No, but anyone that denies that this is not going on, or that it affects us all, is only kidding yourself. The general public is sick of it.

The numbers are not comparable. There are far more slower governed trucks out there to crunch metal with. Percentages are what would tell the tale. Unfortunately, there is no real way to easily discover those percentages. My bet is that slower trucks are not involved in as many accidents where the drivers are held at fault.

I guess you think that driving on the roads is a right. It's not.

I was an Owner/Operator in the true sense of the word for many years out there. I made a return to the company driver environment in the past two years. Now in all of the rest of the 2.6 decades of driving that I have done out there, I could count in MINUTES the total time that I have ever traveled at speeds in excess of 75 mph. For many years now, 65 to 68 mph is fine with me.

Call me whatever you want, but my driving record is clean. I've always enjoyed driving, and rarely do I get stressed out, nor have I ever been one to ever need a bear report to accompish my goals of getting to where I needed on time. I drive with courtesy. I drive with concern for all others out there.

My goal is to return home safe each and every week I hit those roads, and if it takes putting trucks in single file, one lined up behind the other, so that I am not one day subject to being victimized by a Jeff Gordon wannabe that loses control of his truck, then so be it.

I'm tired of speeding, tailgating, train horn blowing, cb whining, left lane hogging truckers too.

 

Regulating all trucks to 68mph will not stop speeding, tailgating, trainhorn blowing ,CB whining or left lane hugging drivers. The answer is not regulation, it's education. I don't want to get into a pissing contest with you. Drivers who drive like you stated above will continue to drive that way and theres really nothing that you can do about it, other than take their licenses away. If we were all governed to 55mph it would'nt matter, some people in big trucks would still speed, tailgate, blowtrain horns, whine on the CB and hog the left lane. You need to stop kidding yourself, if you've been running these roads for 26yrs like you say you have you ought to know better.

 

No tactic taken will stop all of the above. It will reduce a great deal of the behavior that has the public outraged.

Education has not worked.

Nor I with anyone either. I know that my views are not widely held by others, and I don't offer them to inflame anyone. I simply feel that there are more than a few of us that have slipped into behaviors that have gone on long enough. If anyone out there behind the wheel of a truck cannot drive with respect and concern for others at all times, then they need not be in charge of a 40 ton bullet.

I'm for that too. I'd settle for an amendment to the license criteria that would impose a graduated mandatory suspension for ANY act that is considered a serious violation. 1st offense - 6 months. 2nd offense - 1 year. 3rd offense - permanent suspension of one's CDL. I'm for fines of a minimum of $1,000 for any serious violation as well. Any driver convicted of anything considered to be "road rage" committed while in a CMV, should result in a permanent ban of their CDL. This would include tailgating, headlight flashing, horn blowing, any intentional act of swerving to intimidate others, and even giving the finger.

Is that extreme? Maybe. But we are supposed to be professionals and we are supposed to be used to dealing with idiotic people out there. I do hold truck drivers to a higher standard for the same reasons.

One of my pet peeves are those train horns, and they should be made absolutely illegal to have them installed on a CMV.

I'm willing to bet that the percentage of trucks that are already limited to around that same speed, is around 60-70% as it stands now. Now all of the arguments that have been offered don't hold water. I don't see all of these massive traffic jams that some say will result. Trucks are passing trucks just fine.

Friend, my resume with this industry is rock solid. I see no need to recant it, nor is it important that I even offer the amount of time that I have been involved with the industry. If I never got behind the wheel, it wouldn't matter.

My observations are accurate. They have been observed by many others. If this was not so, then the proposal wouldn't be on the table, nor would we sitting here and discussing it. I find it ironic that no one ever denies the problem, and they never, EVER would say that they are a part of the problem themselves, and it's always offered that you just can't stop it from occuring. I reject that notion, and so do many others. This change will come about when the industry itself takes a stand against those that are mucking it up. And no, this is not an accusation towards anyone that rejects my take on the issue either. I am "speaking" in general terms.

It's not the first time that the issue of speeding truckers has come up, nor is it the first time I have discussed it. I know the deal. I've been around the online rodeo circuit for years. That being said, there is one more observation that I have had, and this strictly pertains to those that want the freedom to drive at speeds they feel is a-okay for them;

Chronic speeders (defined as those that will ROUTINELY exceed 10 mph over the speed limit) will defend what they perceive as a "right" to drive fast with anything they can pull out their head to do it. They will use phrases like "85th percentile", a reference to a theory that the "proper" speed limit should be set at the speed in which 85 percent of the traffic travels on a given stretch of roadway. They will demean any proof or assertion that speeding drivers kill others. They will cite issues like production losses. They will always point their fingers at other driving behaviors that are supposedly worse than their own. They will deny that slower speeds conserves fuel. Anything....and I've heard them all.

For twenty years, this nation was under a 55 mph speed limit. Drivers didn't honor that either. I was one of them. I rarely did or do now, exceed 5 mph over the posted speed limit anywhere I am. But that's not the case for far too many. People will test the limits of tolerance on a daily basis. Most know what their risks are of getting ticketed, and what they can get away with.

I-75 from where I live, into Atlanta is one of the most abused stretches of interstates for speeder. It is nothing for me to count a couple of hundred or more trucks and cars exceeding the speed limit in the neighborhood of 15 mph routinely, and with a dozen or more that will be traveling up to 30 mph over the speed limit. Trucks rarely cross that barrier, but I have seen a few that were.

Now there is a very simple formula that illustrates WHY trucks should not be traveling as fast as cars, and there is absolutely no way to dispute it, and most couldn't because they know it to be true. A fully loaded truck will take up to 222% as long to come to a complete stop in a panic situation, as it takes for automobiles to do the same thing. An empty truck on wet pavement takes even longer to stop, without severly risking loss of control.

How many truck drivers are driving out there and are READY to bring that truck to a complete stop in such a situation at any given moment, without risking rear-ending another vehicle in front of them? Not many. And I'm absolutely prepared to stipulate that it's not always the truck driver's fault. Even those of us who try their best ot keep lots of space in front of them, will have it filled in a second by others when they pass or when they want to change lanes. Truck drivers themselves are the worst to fail to leave space in between them and the truck they just passed. Too many of them will barely clear my front bumper, and over they come. That's another of my big pet peeves.

When a truck is going over 70 mph, it's a powder keg just waiting for a place to blow up. Trucks are extremely unstable at those speeds. The center of gravity is altered tremendously, and any sudden turn of the wheel will result in a likely rollover situation at those speeds. The risk of a rear-end collision is far greater at speeds that high if the driver must panic stop. In short, the chance of an accident at those speeds are absolutely increased at speeds that high.

We are not alone out there. Traffic on a daily basis has tripled in the past two decades. Truck traffic has nearly doubled. Those roads are crowded, and it's not going to get any better. Too many people are dying. The truck accident rate, while falling steadily in the past decade, STILL isn't low enough. I have predicted that it will actually increase for the year 2006. The numbers are not in yet. I'm waiting with baited breath for them.

And for the record, I don't find myself in agreement with ANYTHING that the ATA takes issue with. Most people know this about me. This is one time when I think they have it right.

Am I kidding myself?

Naw...I think I've got a grasp on the reality of the situation. It's just not what some people care to hear. They're too busy trying to listen out for that next bear report, so they can hammer down for a while more.

 

it use to be courtesy for for drives to wait and to give a little, but not any more with this fast pace world we live in today, cost go up and your pay stays the same.

 

I think one of the problems now with this country is too much government and not enough guts left in the people of this country to stand up for our rights. As I see it anyone that agrees with this is wasting precious oxygen and doesn't have an right to be in this country. GO to Canada so they can take care of you.
No one wants to be responsible for their actions and wants the government to change their diapers and wipe their butts because they don't have the GUTS or common sense to be an adult. I see this as one more time the government is getting into something that they know NOTHING about now and never will. Our forefathers are turning over in their graves at the state of the country.

 

Amen, brother...I see it every day as well...it's a shame that we are expected to be "professionals" but we are treated like babies. You can't have it both ways. Split speed limits kill. That's fact in my mind. If we are the "professionals", then we need at the very minimum two lanes to ourselves. We deserve it because we know how to drive better than four-wheeled drivers. We get the higher-priced tickets, and we're assumed to be at fault at the accident scene because we're "professionals". We should be the ones who get to drive in the HOV lanes and it's CARS that should be given tickets for driving in them.

But they want it both ways, and they get it because we let them.

 

NO. BLOODY. WAY.

 

The day they consider putting 68Mph limiters on cars is the day I might consider putting them on trucks.

 

When it comes to actual rights as are defined in the Constitution of this land, I will stand up for them and right next to you in defense of them as well. But no one has the RIGHT to drive so much as a lawnmower in this country. You certainly don't have the RIGHT to drive at a speed you choose, when that is either under the mimimum speed limits, or over the maximum speed limits. Those limits are determined by enacted laws.

The reason that this is on the table, is due to the rampant disobeyal of the laws as they currently stand. More specifically, it is due to the disobeyal of those laws by truck drivers.

Park your truck and apply for a driving job at NASCAR. If you're that good, they'll take care of you.

That's a rather profound statement. I do take responsibility for MY actions. I drive with a little common sense. By your statements, I have no choice but to assume that you cannot fathom the thought of slowing down those drivers that are not being responsible, or that you may in fact be one of those same drivers that are part of the problem.

That may be true, but then the forefathers didn't have to worry about a moving object that went faster than 20 mph....if that.

 

Will someone tell me what the difference is, whether the speeds at which vehicles travel is mandated, or occurs because drivers choose to drive at a faster or slower pace? There are always differing speeds on any roadway...at anytime.

People kill, whether they drive recklessly or if they pick up a gun and pull the trigger. Split speed limits are not the culprit.

People that drive without paying attention, and suddenly swerve into another vehicle to miss one they have run up on...kill.

People that swerve in and out of lanes, dodging all of the slower moving vehicles, because they are in a hurry, and just so happen to find themselves planted in the rear of a vehicle that makes a safe lane change, because the high speed driver had not counted on that legal manuever while he was making his illegal manuever...kill.

But as I've stated before, it would be better if they would just slow everything on wheels back down. It was a mistake to have ever raised the speed limits to begin with.