The Illinois Trucking Association is calling on the Illinois Department of Transportation to reduce speed limits for automobiles in the state where the department has created a 15 mph differential between car speed limits and truck speed limits.

The association submitted a formal request last week to IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider.

With the passage of Public Act 98-0511, the maximum limit was raised from 65 mph to 70 mph outside of urban areas as of Jan. 1. Unfortunately, this has created locations in rural parts of the Chicago-area’s collar counties (Will, Kane, Lake, and McHenry) where IDOT has posted a 70 mph limit for cars but the truck speed limit remains 55 mph.

“The Illinois Trucking Association believes that a 15 mph differential between cars and trucks is too dangerous,” says ITA Executive Director Matt Hart. “Prior to Jan. 1, the maximum differential in Illinois was 10 mph. We believe that the Illinois Department of Transportation should reduce the automobile speed limit in these areas and return those areas to a place where trucks are limited to 55 and cars are limited to 65 mph.”

Hart adds, “For the safety of all motorists, the Illinois Trucking Association is hopeful that IDOT will return the car speed limits in these areas back to the 65 mph limits that were in place before Jan, 1.”