Attention: Louisiana truckers! You need to contact your elected state officials about Gov. Mike Foster’s announcement last week that he would bypass the Legislature and take speed limits and lane restrictions into his own hands.

On Aug. 28, Foster ordered a 5-mph speed limit reduction and lane restrictions for heavy trucks on Interstate 10 through the Atchafalaya Basin after a truckdriver and four others died in an 11-vehicle pile-up accident on I-10 between Butte La Rose and Whiskey Bay.

“Not everybody believes the governor has the authority to simply change speed limits and implement lane restrictions on a whim, especially since the Legislature rejected that idea earlier this year,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. “While the governor may see a benefit in reduced speed limits, it’s ludicrous to simply lower the speed limit for trucks and create a split speed limit. That won’t resolve the problem.”

Spencer said, “Louisiana truckers should hold their elected officials accountable for the actions of their governor and urge those lawmakers in the strongest terms to prevail on the governor’s better judgment. They should do that right now.”

The governor’s lane and speed restrictions are scheduled to take effect in mid-October.

Your state representative’s and senator’s contact information can be accessed by visiting http://www.legis.state.la.us/district/zipcode.asp, or by calling OOIDA’s Membership Department at 1-800-444-5791.