Truckers warn speed caps will cause crashes, jam highways

DETROIT -- Truckers are warning a government plan to limit the speed of tractor-trailers electronically will lead to highway traffic jams and possibly an increase in deadly run-ins with cars.

More than 150 people, most identifying themselves as independent truckers, have filed comments recently with the government about the proposed rule, unveiled last month by two federal agencies. There were only a few comments in favor.

The government has proposed requiring electronic speed limiters on all trucks and buses over 26,000 pounds manufactured after the regulation goes into effect. Speeds could be limited to 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour when the rule is finalized after a comment period that ends Nov. 7.

Regulators and others favoring speed limiters say the rule is supported by simple physics: If trucks travel slower, the impact of a crash will be less severe, and fewer people will be injured or killed. But truckers say the government is creating conditions for more collisions by focusing on the severity of the crash while ignoring the dynamic of vehicles moving at different speeds.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analyzed data from 2004 through 2013 and found on average, 1,044 people died per year in crashes involving heavy trucks on roads with speed limits of at least 55 mph.

The agency found if trucks' speeds were limited to 60 mph, 162 to 498 lives per year would be saved.