Illinois lawmakers Wednesday failed to overturn Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto of legislation to raise the speed limit for trucks to 65 mph on rural interstates.
The legislation would have ended the state's "split speed limit" of 65 mph for cars and 55 for trucks.
The Illinois Senate had voted earlier this month to overturn the veto. However, the House voted 57-53 in an effort to override the governor, and that was 14 votes short of what was needed to raise the speed limit, reported the Chicago Tribune.
The National Safety Council told lawmakers that the severity of a crash increases with speed, and that the impact of being hit by a truck is 40 percent greater at 65 mph than at 55 mph.
"We know that the percentage of trucks going faster than 70 mph is twice as high in states with uniform 65 mph limits as it is in states with different car and truck speed limits," said lan McMillan, president of the National Safety Council. "We also know that lower speed limits for trucks reduce the risk of crashes since lower speeds make stopping distances closer to those of lighter vehicles." McMillan pointed to other Midwestern states, such as Missouri, that raised their speed limits for trucks and subsequently experienced more truck-related fatalities.
However, the Mid-West Truckers Association said that U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show that states with a uniform speed limit have a lower fatality rate than Illinois. Forty-two states have a uniform speed limit (60, 65, 70 & 75 mph). Of those, 12 states have a uniform 65 mph speed limit. All 12 states have a lower fatality rate than Illinois on their rural interstate highways.
A representative of the Mid-West Truckers Association said the debate over the higher speed limits turned into a smear campaign against the trucking industry.
This is the third time in recent years that legislation has passed to change the speed limits, only to be vetoed, reported the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association.