Heavy-duty trucks can soon go 80 on some Idaho freeways. Truckers have concerns

In late February, Rep. Doug Pickett, R-Oakley, told his colleagues at the Idaho Statehouse about a proposed legislative fix to what he described as a fatal problem on the state’s major highways: differential speeds.

The bill he sponsored sought to eliminate Idaho’s bifurcated — or split — speed limits, which for over a decade have allowed cars to whiz along some rural stretches of interstate at 80 miles per hour, capping heavy trucks at 70 miles per hour. Pickett argued that a uniform speed limit would improve traffic flow and reduce the potential for crashes on the Interstate, even if it meant opening the door for large commercial trucks to legally do 80.

“What this addresses is the fact that inconsistent road conditions are the biggest dangers on the highway, not speed itself,” Pickett said in a House Transportation Committee hearing on Feb. 26.

“Speed doesn’t kill,” he said. “Differential speed kills.”

But some opponents of the legislation, which starting July 1 will remove lower speed limits for trucks weighing more than 26,000 pounds, are raising safety concerns of their own. Some truck drivers and operators worry the new law could make their jobs more dangerous — and question whether it will achieve what lawmakers intended.

On Wednesday, the Idaho Transportation Department board authorized the uniform 80 mph limit in a tight vote that reflected similar frustrations. In the Treasure Valley, the new limit will affect Interstate 84 west of Caldwell and east of Boise. Further east, it’ll also affect sections of Interstate 86 and Interstate 15.

New law part of nationwide shift, proponents say

Pickett placed his proposal, which was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little on March 23, within what he described as a national shift away from bifurcated speeds.

Split speed limits went into effect in Idaho and elsewhere in the late 1990s. In the Gem State, commercial trucks were limited to traveling 65 miles per hour on the Interstate, 10 miles per hour below passenger cars, in 1998.

But in the decades since, Pickett said, states across the country have been rethinking this approach.

“We just happen to be one of those states that has held out all these years,” he told the Idaho Statesman by phone.

Pickett estimated that Idaho is one of 10 or fewer states that now have differential speed limits, and he argued that the data doesn’t support them.

He pointed to a 2005 University of Arkansas study that found that vehicles traveling faster or slower than the average speed of traffic are more likely to “interact” with other vehicles, thereby increasing the risk of a crash. In particular, Pickett cited one finding that the frequency of “interactions” for a vehicle traveling 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit is 227% higher than for a vehicle keeping up with the traffic speed.

In the study, “interactions” are described as moments when a vehicle has to pass or be passed by another. But Pickett painted a broader picture of the study’s implications.

“With differential speeds, you have more road rage, more tailgating, more trucks pulling out in front of faster-moving cars, trucks camping out in the left lane with as many as eight, 10 or 12 vehicles behind them,” he said.

At the Feb. 26 hearing, he described another impetus for the bill: a common frustration of cars being stuck behind slow-moving trucks traveling side by side on a two-lane stretch of freeway. He characterized that phenomenon as a safety hazard, too.

“I think we’ve all witnessed this, for example, if a truck moves into the left lane going about 60, 65 in a lane of traffic that’s doing 85, realistically,” he told lawmakers. “You have a very sudden interaction there, and usually that involves a string of vehicles.”

Semis allowed to go 80? Trucking association has ‘grave’ concerns

Allen Hodges, president of the Idaho Trucking Association, has a different view on the bill’s safety. He pointed to different data from the Idaho Transportation Department suggesting that on Idaho highways with higher speed limits, crashes between commercial trucks and passenger cars can result in more fatalities and injuries.

“We have grave safety concerns,” Hodges told the Statesman, though he said the association’s official stance on the bill was neutral.

He noted that increasing the speed limit increases the distance it takes heavy trucks to stop. The heavier the truck, the longer it takes to stop.

“Idaho is only one of two states that the federal government allows 129,000-pound loads daily on the freeway system,” he said. Most commercial trucks are 80,000 pounds, but for the heavier trucks, “that increases your braking distance another almost 200 feet at 80 miles per hour,” he said.

He also noted that most commercial trucks’ tires are only rated for speeds up to 75 miles per hour. According to Hodges, more than 70% of trucking association members say they will not increase their speeds based on the new law. Many commercial trucks have speed governors, which limit them from going over a particular speed for safety and fuel consumption reasons, he explained.

He said the feedback he’s getting from members is a mix of confusion and concern.

“That’s a red flag right there, when you have a commercial driver saying, ‘We don’t need to do this,’ ” he said.

Hodges worried that lawmakers were more concerned about slow-going trucks in the left lane than concerns from truck drivers.

“It won’t solve (what) they were trying to solve, which was they get upset when there’s two trucks in each lane, side by side, and they can’t get around them,” he said.

The association told lawmakers that it would be open to legislation limiting large trucks from traveling in the left lane on rural interstates, Hodges said.

“It fell on deaf ears,” he said.

ITD authorizes new speed limit in close vote

Pickett was firm that concerns about heavy-duty trucks going faster under the new law are better directed to the body who sets speed limits — ITD.

“This legislation doesn’t say anything about what the speed limit should be,” Pickett said. It “has nothing to do with speed limits,” he said.

“If a truck or a trucking company wants to continue driving at 70 miles an hour or 65 miles an hour, this bill does not prohibit that,” he added.

In a board meeting Wednesday, members of ITD’s board aired some frustrations about implementing the new law.

After ITD staff presented results from its recent speed study, which suggested that narrowing the speed gap between cars and trucks would reduce the likelihood for commercial vehicle collisions, ITD’s board chair, Bill Moad, said simply: “I disagree.”

“I understand we’re not having a chance to appeal this, but 80 miles an hour will not solve the differential between cars and trucks,” he said, noting that ITD’s crash data doesn’t differentiate between 26,000-pound trucks and those up to 100,000 pounds more than that.

“I just don’t see it being in the public’s best interest,” echoed board member Paul Franz. “They’re not going to increase their speed. We don’t want them to. It makes trucks tip over, and when they do, they wipe out, usually taking other traffic with them.”

The board authorized the change to the uniform 80 mph speed limit in a 3-2 vote, directing ITD staff to begin taking down the truck speed limit signs. That’s expected to happen on July 1 and take about a day.

State police: Still look out for slow trucks

Explaining what drivers can expect with the law taking effect in two weeks, Aaron Snell, a spokesperson for the Idaho State Police, noted that “drivers may see commercial vehicles traveling at higher speeds than they are used to, particularly on interstate and rural highways.”

Still, Snell cautioned drivers to continue expecting speed differentials.

“While this law changes posted speed limits, it does not change the realities of operating large commercial vehicles,” he said. “Trucks require greater stopping distance, have significant blind spots, and may travel below the posted limit due to equipment, loads, or road terrain.

“Drivers should not assume traffic will move uniformly and must continue to drive attentively and responsibly.”