53MPH Commercial Truck Speed Limit
For Trucks 20,000 LB or Heavier
The traveling public, the insurance companies, the federal law makers along with the DOT
should all uniformly demand and enact legislation that is long overdue which would limit the
speed at which heavy duty commercial vehicles, heavier than 20,000 pounds travel on American
roads to a safer 53 MPH top speed! In fact the technical capabilities of all modern
commercial trucks ought to limit their top speed to 53 MPH, so no matter how hard the driver
of the commercial vehicle pushes the accelerator, the onboard computer responsible for the
operation of the engine will not let the speed of the vehicle increase past 53 miles per hour!
Why? Because speed kills!!! Many deaths could have been avoided in recent
years during accidents, which regrettably do happen, if the heavy duty commercial trucks that
frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds or more were NOT traveling as fast! The frantic
pace at which nearly all commercial trucks move down the roads endangers the driver's
life and the general members of the traveling public who come near them! It is very common
that big commercial trucks in a great hurry to get to where they are going pass slower moving
vehicles at speed of 63-72 miles per hour! Whether it is pure boredom with the monotonous
driving conditions or a natural inclination to want to get their sometimes long driving trips
over with, fast moving heavy duty commercial trucks are endangering the lives of the traveling
public who MUST share the road with these heavy duty commercial trucks traveling at unsafe
speeds that frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds or more. The under slept drivers
barreling down the freeways of America passing everyone going 60-65 MPH, tailgating and
intimidating other drivers if they can't pass for whatever reason are accidents waiting to
happen! I would like to see these days of speeding commercial cargo down Americas highways to
come to an END! Traffic accidents are made worse when the largest and heaviest
vehicles on the roads speed the most! Big trucks are NOT highly maneuverable lightweight
sports cars and motorbikes and they can't stop or react to ever changing road conditions with
equally high performance and they should be driven slower! When heavy duty commercial trucks
that frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds or more travel at 65-72 MPH, most of the time
on cruise control, they cannot react to fast changing road conditions and they make accidents
that much worse by the "speed" above 53 MPH that they were traveling! The difference between
53MPH and 65 or more MPH for heavy duty commercial trucks that frequently weigh greater than
70,000 pounds can be measured by, (1) the severity of accidents when they do occur and
involve big commercial vehicles, the number of fatalities, the number of big trucks unable to
react to fast changing road conditions and happen to get involved with accidents ahead of
them, property damage increases and loss of productivity are all aggravated by higher than
safe speeds of large commercial vehicles traveling on public roads! (2) Possible benefits from
mandating 53MPH speed laws directly built into the onboard computers that are responsible for
the operation of the engines in the heavy duty commercial trucks that frequently weigh as much
as 70,000 pounds or more could be the reduction of stress for the traveling public by NOT
having these large heavy duty commercial trucks that frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds
or more pass you on the freeways of America at unsafe speeds of 65MPH or more, plus the added
benefit of NOT being tailgated, followed to closely by the heavy duty commercial trucks that
frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds or more in an attempt to get you to increase your
speed if they can't pass you for whatever reason! 53MPH is a great speed for heavy duty
commercial trucks this speed law should be built into and retrofitted to every single truck
out there on the road that has potential to weigh as much as 20,000 pounds or more so that no
matter how hard the driver of the commercial vehicle depresses the accelerator in the truck
the engine will not allow the vehicle to exceed the semi safe 53MPH TOP speed. The onboard
computer responsible for the operation of the engine will not allow the built in 53MPH top
speed to be exceeded except for going down hill by the force of gravity! I believe there are
many great reasons for action to be taken immediately to pass federal laws that would mandate
the 53MPH national top speed limit for commercial trucks to be built into every single vehicle
having a precise computer controlled engine! I also believe that the time has come for direct
intervention in the technical operation of heavy duty commercial trucks that frequently weigh
as much as 70,000 pounds or more for the motoring public's safety! Time has proved that one
cannot rely on individuals to voluntarily obey speed laws, and that this special group of
motorists seem to take the most risk in exceeding the basic speed laws of the road. While
this will reduce the risk of fatal injuries in motor vehicle accidents involving large heavy
duty commercial trucks that frequently weigh as much as 70,000 pounds or more it also improves
the quality of life of those Americans living in an ear shot of the freeways or highways of
America where the commercial traffic travels 24 hours a day making NOISE pollution a real
problem! Slower moving commercial cargo will make less noise and less air pollution plus it
will be safer than the faster moving commercial cargo of today!!!
E-mail_1:tiborgbalogh@gmail.com
E-mail_2:Tibor_G_Balogh@HotMail.com
Last Update: 03.FEB.2005
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