The percentage of speed-related at-fault collisions involving large commercial vehicles in Ontario has significantly dropped after the introduction of speed-limiter legislation in the region.
A recent study conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) found the crash rate of speeding trucks dropped by 73% after the rules were implemented province-wide. The reduction in truck collisions was considerably greater than the decrease found in other vehicle drivers, which averaged at around 30%.
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The findings run contrary to skeptics’ initial expectations that slowing down large trucks would unintentionally lead to more collisions with passenger cars and other vehicles. The study concluded there is no evidence that speed limiters have contributed to an increase in truck drivers involved in other types of collisions after 2009, including rear-end crashes.
Today’s Trucking reported that the MTO conducted the study between 2014 and 2015. Data on fatal injury, and police reported property damage collisions on high-speed highways from pre-legislation (2006-2008) and post-legislation (2010-2012) were compared side-by-side. The study also analyzed MTO enforcement officers’ large vehicle driver speed data, along with other real-world data.
Other findings of the study include:
- Post 2009, large truck drivers produced fewer at-fault speed collisions relative to all at-fault driver actions
- There is no evidence to suggest worse collision outcomes for large truck drivers post 2009
- The percentage of truck drivers that were struck from the rear stayed more-or-less the same from pre- to post-legislation (10.03 % of total collisions 2006-2008 and 10.47% 2010-2012), whereas for other drivers the rate increased (18.6% 2006-2008 and 21.3% 2010-2012)
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