OOIDA Call to Action - Illinois Members
October 4, 2007

How do they grow mushrooms? I’m sure, after reading their press release on truck speed limits, the people at AAA Chicago are experts on the subject.

Having one speed limit in the state for both cars and trucks is the only speed limit policy that makes safety sense. This isn’t rocket science. When vehicles travel the same speed you eliminate the need for lane changes and passing that keep vehicles in constant conflict. Highway safety experts have recognized this for decades. Ironically, one of the first university studies to show there is no safety benefit with slower speed limits for trucks was requisitioned and paid for by AAA. The safety science hasn’t changed since then, but the politics have changed. Apparently AAA needs a bad guy on the highways to demonstrate their own worth and trucks are the convenient target.

Don’t be fooled. This issue isn’t about politics. It’s about safety. Every year, accident statistics show that cars are three to four times more likely to run into the back of a truck than the other way around. No good comes from trucks running slower than surrounding traffic.

Rural stretches of interstate highway, where speed limits would increase, are the absolute safest highways in the state. If the speed limit change causes more trucks to use the interstate instead of two-lane roads where the odds of an accident are six times greater, we are way ahead in highway safety.

The state Legislature did the right thing by passing SB540 to eliminate split speed limits and they should overwhelmingly override Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s misguided veto.

Yesterday, the Illinois Senate voted 39-10 to override the veto. We need the House to do the same! Please contact your state representative as soon as possible to encourage him/her to override the Governor’s veto of SB540. The veto session ends Oct. 12 so please call, fax and email today!!

To find information for your state representative, click here.