North Carolina Safety Group Opposes Lifting Truck Restrictions

Opening thousands of miles of North Carolina roadways to long tractor-trailers will jeopardize lives and overtax the state’s infrastructure, a safety group cautioned.

Truck Safety Coalition state coordinator Jen Tierney said June 23 a legislative proposal to allow 53-foot-long trailers on all primary highway routes is unsafe and would lead to more accidents because some of the routes are too narrow to accommodate them.

“If passed, (the expansion) will lead to more truck crash-related deaths, more debilitating injuries, and more roadway damage and destruction,” Tierney said.

The measure would also allow recreational boats to be hauled on roads without a permit if they are less than 10 feet wide, compared to the current 8 1/2 feet. Weight restrictions on trucks carrying agricultural products and lumber would also be loosened.

The House Transportation Committee is scheduled to consider the plan June 25. The Senate approved the bill 47-0 last week.

Current state law restricts the trucks to interstates and designated highways, while 48-foot trailers are not bound by the same restrictions.

The bill’s backers said the legislation is needed to help grow North Carolina’s economy. The trucking association — which supports the plan — said 53-foot trailers have become the industry standard.

But the bill’s opponents said even experienced truck drivers will have difficulty maneuvering long trucks on two-lane or winding roads.

Lake Lure Police Chief Eric Hester said truck drivers already struggle to control their vehicles when traversing some of his town’s routes, and that his officers sometimes escort the small trucks in an effort to stave off an accident.

Both residents and police officers alike have been run off the road by wayward trucks in his town, which is located about 45 minutes outside of Asheville, he said.

“I have seen 48-foot trucks coming through the town of Lake Lure … that cannot stay in their own lane, much less a 53-foot truck,” Hester said.

The bill allows for the Department of Transportation to work with the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee to bar vehicles on specific routes if engineering studies show it’s unsafe.

But the bill doesn’t make engineering studies of the routes mandatory.

“This is putting the cart before the horse,” Tierney said. “This is postmortem approach to highway safety.”

The state Department of Transportation, which has some safety concerns about the plan, began assembling a list of routes that may pose a safety risk if opened to the larger vehicles, said DOT state traffic engineer Kevin Lacy.

But studying all the roads included in the bill would take months, if not longer, he said.

“The ones that we’re concerned about are those that may not be as apparent as some up in the mountains,” Lacy said.

House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, said she is aware of the safety concerns and that her panel will consider amendments to the plan if they’re proposed.

The full House and Senate need to approve the same version of the bill before it can be sent to Gov. Mike Easley’s desk.

Topics Auto North Carolina