Road Safe America calls for mandatory speed limiters on trucks

On Jan. 28, Road Safe America released a sobering new report showing that large truck crashes have increased in California and most other states over the last eight years. In response to its findings, the organization is renewing its call for the mandatory use of speed limiters and automatic emergency braking systems by the trucking industry.

To prepare the report, Road Safe America researchers examined federal crash data from 2009 until 2017. During that time, 35,882 Americans died in traffic accidents involving large trucks. The states with the highest number of large truck deaths in 2017 were Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania. From 2009 through 2017, the states with the greatest percentage increases in truck accident fatalities were Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Texas and Nevada.

According to the report, most of the states with high numbers of truck crash deaths have speed limits of 70 mph or above. A representative for Road Safe America said it is unreasonable for states to allow 80,000-pound trucks to travel that fast. To reduce truck crashes across the U.S., the organization is pushing the government to make speed limiters and automatic emergency braking systems mandatory on all commercial large trucks. In fact, most trucks already have speed limiters installed. All that is missing is a regulation requiring them to be turned on and set to a safe speed limit.

Speeding and reckless driving cause thousands of serious truck accidents every year. Victims of these accidents often suffer catastrophic injuries that require extensive medical care and rehabilitation. In order to recover costs, many victims choose to file a personal injury lawsuit with the help of an attorney. This type of lawsuit could help a victim obtain compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, property loss, pain and suffering and other crash-related damages.