COLUMBUS Bid to raise truck speeds puts critics in high gear

The Ohio Trucking Association won't back either side.
By MICHELE C. HLADIK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Ohio lawmakers are taking another crack at increasing the speed limit for trucks and buses on major roads.
Companion bills in the House and Senate would raise the speed limit from 55 to 65 mph for vehicles weighing 8,000 pounds or more when empty.
"People travel at the speed they are comfortable with," said state Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Lakeville Republican. "The safest highways are where drivers drive at a uniform speed. Most people drive at a reasonable rate where they feel comfortable. Fifty-five on the interstate is not reasonable."
Gibbs says a uniform speed limit for all vehicles will mean fewer accidents and bottlenecks.
The opposition
But some important groups oppose the legislation, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
According to Lt. Rick Fambro, increasing the speed could lead to more crashes.
He said the number of trucks involved in crashes has increased throughout the United States since the national movement to increase the speed began in 1996.
He added Ohio has been able to defy that trend by keeping the speed limit for trucks at 55 mph.
"It's also a matter of physics," Fambro said, explaining it takes longer for a truck to stop.
Gibbs disagreed. He said trucks today have better brake systems and drivers are higher off the ground and can see further ahead, helping them anticipate the need to slow or stop.
Gibbs said a highway patrol study demonstrates that accidents are not caused by increased speeds, but by different speeds.
According to Fambro, 74 percent of trucks stopped for speeding in 2001 were traveling 66 mph or faster. He said 2,500 violations were given out for trucks traveling above 75 mph that year.
He said there is nothing to show drivers would adhere to the new speed limit, but there are plenty of statistics to show they wouldn't.
"That's a weak argument," Gibbs said. "There's always going to be a few bad apples."
He said the patrol should be more focused on enforcing the speed limits for all drivers.
Road congestion
Fambro also cited road congestion as another reason to keep truck speeds at 55, but Gibbs said increasing congestion is actually a good reason to create uniform speed limits.
Larry Davis, president of the Ohio Trucking Association, said his group remains neutral on the issue and will not testify on either bill. He said OTA members have taken both sides.
More to come
More testimony on the bill is expected when the House resumes meeting in September.
Similar bills have been introduced in the previous two legislative sessions without success.
Gibbs said his bill has a lot of legislative support. "There seems to be more of a growing momentum," he said, adding that 40 states have uniform speed limits.
Sen. Lynn Wachtmann, a Defiance Republican, has a similar bill in the Senate.