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Posted in Truck Accident Litigation Blog

Illinois Considers Raising Speed Limit for Trucks

June 27th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

For the third time in five years, Illinois lawmakers are pushing for a uniform speed legislation that would increase the speed limit for large trucks.  The new bill would allow the state to increase the truck speed limit from 55 miles per hour to 65 mph.   In 2003 and 2004, similar attempts to get uniform speed legislation were met with vetoes by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. 

Opponents of the uniform speed limit argue that faster trucks would increase the brutality of collisions because the force of impact is stronger the faster a vehicle is traveling.  Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and other trucking officials believe that split speed limits lead to more accidents and that a uniform speed limit would reduce tailgating and eliminate the need for cars to weave around slower trucks and changes lanes. 

The bill has passed both houses, but the governor has not yet acted.  While past actions might be a good indicator of how the governor might act on this issue, one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Bob Filder D-Mt. Zion, believes that the bill might be greeted differently by Blagojevich this year because so many lawmakers back the concept.  A recent issue of Land Line Magazine, Filder was quoted as saying “Should he (Blagojevich) not see it our way then we’d certainly try to keep the votes we’ve got an override his veto.”  However, in 2003, the House and Senate initially approved similar legislation by veto-proof margins, but the House fell two votes shy of the margin needed to hand the bill off to the Senate for further consideration.  In 2004, enough Senators stayed together to pull off an override, but several lawmakers in the House switched their votes in favor the governor’s position.  The current bill awaits the governor’s action. 

–For articles on this topic, please click on the following links:

Land Line Magazine: The Business Magazine for Professional Truckers

The Southern Illinoisan

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