U.S. Does Not Need 100,000-Pound Big Rigs on Highways; Road Safe America Opposes Trucks 50 Tons and Heavier

ATLANTA, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A two-state experiment raising the weight limits for big rigs from 80,000 pounds to 120,000 pounds jeopardizes the safety of everyone on our nation's highways and should be opposed.

Road Safe America, a non-profit dedicated to safety on America's highways, said today that Congress is allowing the test of the higher weight limits in Vermont and Maine following a closed-door, hastily considered addition to the federal appropriations bill.

"Without electronic speed limiters set at 65 mph or lower and without black boxes that record a driver's time on the road and distances traveled, allowing these huge behemoths that already weigh 30 times more than a passenger car to get even bigger and travel the same roads is a recipe for new levels of death and injury," said Stephen C. Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America along with his wife, Susan.

Owings said citizens should contact their Congressman and Senators to oppose the dangerous new truck weight limits.

The Owingses founded Road Safe America in 2003 after their son, Cullum, was killed when his car – stopped in an interstate traffic jam – was crushed from behind by a speeding tractor trailer going seven miles per hour above the posted speed limit on cruise control.

Road Safe America (www.roadsafeamerica.org) for six years has been working to have a federal regulation passed to require speed governors (already on all heavy commercial vehicles) to be set at 65 mph or lower. Road Safe America also wants the federal government to require electronic on-board recorders – black boxes similar to those on airliners – activated on heavy commercial vehicles to accurately record the activities of the truck and driver.

The European Union allows 100,000 pound trucks on its roads, but requires their electronic speed governors to be set at 56 mph. Additional safety equipment in Europe, such as side and rear crash barriers and electronic on-board recorders, make the heavy trucks there safer.

Electronic speed governors come as standard equipment on all tractor trailer trucks manufactured in the U.S. since 1992, but not all are activated, allowing drivers of too many heavy commercial trucks to travel at speeds which prevent them from being able to react safely in an emergency.

The Congressional experiment allows for maximum truck weights to be 100,000 pounds in Maine and 120,000 pounds in Vermont, and Road Safe America is concerned the weight limits might be expanded to other states unless opposed.

Current weight limits for heavy commercial vehicles on America's interstate system are 80,000 pounds with five axles. The new weight limits require a sixth axle to be installed. However, adding 20 percent more braking power with a sixth axle while adding 25 percent more weight in Maine (100,000 pounds total) and 50 percent more weight in Vermont (120,000 pounds total) will not provide the braking power needed to stop the trucks in a distance that is safe for the trucker and other motorists.

Road Safe America is neither anti-trucking nor anti-trucker. To the contrary, we acknowledge that operators of heavy commercial vehicles work in one of the most dangerous professions in the world, generally deserve more pay than they are receiving now, and are entitled to more adequate rest periods and the safest equipment available.  Road Safe America is pro-safety for everyone on America's highways.

SOURCE Road Safe America