Speed limiter proposal back again

April 28, 2022

Mark Schremmer

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After being shelved for years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is breathing life back into a proposal that would require the use of speed limiters for commercial motor vehicles.

FMCSA announced late in the afternoon on Wednesday, April 27 that it had issued a notice of intent to move forward with the controversial rulemaking.

The agency said it issued the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to follow up on the joint proposal from FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued in September 2016.

Although no specific speed was given, FMCSA said the rulemaking would propose that most interstate commercial motor vehicles be speed limited. Commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more and that are equipped with an electric engine control unit capable of being governed would be subject to the speed limiter mandate.

The notice of intent follows the National Roadway Safety Strategy’s determination that speed is a major factor in fatal crashes.

“FMCSA envisions the rule as a commonsense approach to reducing crashes and saving lives as the agency continues to work with drivers and advocates for the commercial motor vehicle community toward a goal of zero lives lost on our nation’s roadways,” the agency wrote.

“FMCSA is moving forward with this rulemaking because of concerns about the number of commercial motor vehicle crashes and fatalities traveling at high speeds. In 2019 alone, there were nearly 900 fatal crashes in areas with posted speed limits over 70 miles per hour.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposes any mandates of speed limiters, citing studies that show the devices increase the interactions between trucks and other vehicles, thereby increasing the likelihood of a crash.

OOIDA spoke out against the proposal when it was issued in 2016 and also has fought to keep the mandate out of any recent highway bills.

In 2021, OOIDA President Todd Spencer sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging him to reject the American Trucking Associations’ speed limiter proposal to limit trucks at a speed of either 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour.

“Drivers hate speed limiters because of the operational and safety problems they create,” Spencer wrote. “Large carriers would love nothing more than to ensure every truck and carrier is stuck with these devices so their drivers stop fleeing for jobs at more trucker-friendly carriers.”

Speed limiters at any of ATA’s proposed speeds would create a drastic speed differential between commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles in various parts of the country. The fastest speed limit in the United States is 85 mph on a tollway outside of Austin, Texas. Portions of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming all have road networks with speed limits of 80 mph.

Considering that passenger vehicles often push the posted speed limit by another 5 mph or more, the proposal could create a situation where cars and light-duty trucks are traveling 25-30 mph faster than commercial motor vehicles on the same highway.

“Studies have demonstrated that a higher variance of vehicle speeds in traffic flow increases the risk of a crash, and speed limiters cause speed variance,” the OOIDA Foundation wrote. “Regardless of the average speed on the highway, the greater a driver deviates from the average speed, the greater his chances are of being involved in a crash.”

In 2017, OOIDA published a video explaining the problems caused by speed limiters.

Although FMCSA issued its intent of notice, it is unclear when a notice of proposed rulemaking would be published in the Federal Register. Once that happens, the public will have 30 days to comment. LL