A bad idea — 05/17/07

May 15, 2008 05:48 pm

— A move being considered by Congress to increase the weight limit for trucks from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds is not necessary and should be rejected. We do not need a “demonstration project” in six states that would allow trucks to increase their legal weight limit by more than 8 tons to know that heavier trucks will greatly increase the amount of damage those vehicles to do to roads and bridges and significantly increase the number of fatal accidents.
As proposed, the weight limits would be increased in Georgia, Maine, Michigan, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. The heavier the truck, the more it takes to bring those vehicles to a stop. That alone is sure to increase the number of accidents involving trucks, and when a semi collides with a pickup or sedan, it often results in fatal injuries from those in the smaller vehicles.
Kentucky law already allows coal trucks to carry 20 more tons than other vehicles on the highway, but when former Gov. Paul Patton proposed increasing the weight limit for coal trucks from 120,000 to 160,000 pounds, the idea was quickly — and wisely — rejected by legislators. One of the achievements of the administration of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher was more aggressive enforcement of weight limits on coal trucks and other vehicles. By making the coal companies that loaded the overweight trucks at least partially accountable for the heavy vehicles, the Fletcher administration effectively reduced the number of heavy trucks on our highways.
“There is overwhelming scientific evidence that shows the larger trucks get, the more difficult they are to control, the longer they take to stop, and the more dangerous they are to the motoring public,” said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. “We are telling the trucking and shipping industries that we don’t need a demolition derby on our highways.”
She’s right. Of course, there are some in Kentucky who contend the heavier weights allowed for coal trucks is unfair to the other semi-trailers on the state’s highways. We agree, and here’s an easy solution to that inequity: Lower the weight for coal trucks to 80,000 pounds, the same weight limit as all other vehicles. That would level the playing field without increasing the number of fatal accidents involving trucks and without increasing the road damage those vehicles cause.