How Often Do Truckers Speed?
Truck drivers, in general, cannot spend all day on the road. Long-haul truckers, for example, must abide by the federal Hours of Service rules, which generally limit them to spending 11 hours behind the wheel of their truck.
Given how many employers in the fleet industry pay their tractor-trailer operators on a per-mile basis, many of them see it as worth the risk to drive faster to get done hauling their load sooner rather than later. By doing so, they often believe it will make them more appealing to dispatchers to allow them to carry additional cargo since they can get it there quicker than anticipated, pleasing the customer.
As you’ve likely heard, though, “speed kills.” While speeding is dangerous no matter the size of the vehicle a motorist is operating, it’s a particularly deadly practice for truck drivers to engage in. Their big rigs can easily inflict catastrophic damage on much smaller automobiles.
Are you curious how often do truckers speed? Let’s deep-dive into this issue to see how big of a problem it may really be.
How Common Is Speeding Among Truck Drivers?
Data published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in 2020 details how at least 7.3% of fatal trucking accidents that year were attributable to speeding. If you take that number into account and the fact that not every trucker that speeds likely gets caught or becomes involved in a collision, you can likely tell that truckers often speed — at least when they can. Let us explain.
What To Know About Speed Governors
Truckers, much like any other motorist, can receive citations for speeding, which get logged on their driving record. That doesn’t seem to make them rethink their choice to speed, though.
This is why, in 2022, the FMCSA issued a Notice of Intent to increase the number of speed limiters, which would restrict how fast a trucker could travel, featured on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). The federal agency noted that their push to increase the use of these speed governors on big rigs, for example, was their first major effort to reduce speed-related wrecks involving tractor-trailers since recommending that truck manufacturers install electronic engine control units (ECUs) on them in 2003.
If the FMCSA’s announcement in 2022 should tell you anything, it’s that they recognize just how big of a problem speeding is among truckers and how catastrophic the consequences associated with it can be. That would be the best explanation for why they proposed doing more about it.
The Connection Between Speeding and Truck Maneuverability
Remember how we mentioned that speed kills? There are many reasons it does. It generally takes a tractor-trailer at least 196 feet to reach a complete stop in ideal conditions when traveling at a rate of 55 MPH, per the FMCSA.
Other widely available online data suggests that it can take the length of two football fields for an 18-wheeler to fully stop when moving at 65 MPH.
The reason we bring up braking distances is because, as you can like;y tell, if a trucker is speeding and applies their brakes hoping to stop in a short distance to avoid causing a crash, it’s unlikely to happen. And, if they take evasive action, like swerving in an attempt to miss a car, pedestrian, or bicyclist around them, that too could cause a truck wreck in Jackson.
Getting Help if a Trucker’s Speeding Seriously Injured You or a Close Relative
Our sincere hope is that you’re reading this out of curiosity — in other words, because you want to better understand how common it is for truck drivers to speed. The probability is that you’re reading this, though, because you or a loved one suffered catastrophic injuries that you attribute to a tractor-trailer operator’s speeding. If that’s the case, then our legal team at Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC can help.
Our law firm serves clients here in Jackson and elsewhere in our state, advising them of the rights afforded to them per Mississippi law when someone else’s negligence results in them suffering harm. We want to do the same for you.
Contact us for a free initial consultation with one of our Jackson truck accident attorneys now.
