Discussion needed about safe highways

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There’s an extraordinary debate going on that deserves the attention of everyone who drives an automobile or truck, or depends on one.

That’s pretty much all of us.

The American Trucking Associations, the nation’s biggest trucking industry trade group, has petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to limit the maximum speed of large trucks at the time of manufacture to no more than 68 miles per hour.

That’s right, 68 mph, 7 mph below the highest speed limit on interstate highways in Nebraska.

State trucking executives told the Journal Star months ago — and it may surprise some people — that about 75 percent of trucks the national association studied already were governed, and most are set at 70 mph or lower.

In support of its petition, the association cited, among other research, the 2006 Large Truck Crash Causation Study jointly sponsored, conducted and released by federal agencies earlier this year.

That study found that speeding by the truck driver was found to be a critical factor in 18 percent of crashes in which the truck had a role in causing the crash.

The association said it believes limiting truck speeds will mean improved highway safety, reduced emissions and fuel use, and a reduction in maintenance and enforcement costs.

The federal government’s lack of focus on speed in crashes involving large trucks represents a significant gap in its truck safety strategy, the association said.

You might think that would be the last word among truckers, that the professional association’s endorsement of this idea would make it a slam dunk. But it isn’t.

Some smaller, independent truckers, owner-operators, for example, say this is just a way for the largest carriers to dominate the industry and put them out of business.

Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association argue the proposal may be a way for large truck companies to smooth the way for approval of bigger, heavier and longer trucks. That association contends it’s a competition issue, rather than a safety issue.

In any case, both organizations acknowledge the proposed law presents its own safety problem: The risk of some kinds of accidents — such as rear-enders — increases if trucks are driving more than 10 mph slower than other vehicles on the freeways.

“Cars and trucks don’t play well on the highway when they are going dramatically different speeds,” the ATA’s Dave Osiecki told the Sacramento Bee.

The truck can, in fact, become “a rolling roadblock” and a source of frustration for other motorists, a spokesman for the independent drivers said.

So what’s the best way to handle this safety issue, one that becomes even more pertinent to us as Interstate 80 is widened between Lincoln and Omaha?

We’re counting on a lively, informed debate among truckers, other motorists and policymakers to produce wise solutions to safer highways.