MONTREAL, Que. – The process of legislating speed limiters and imposing a top speed of 105 km/h for heavy vehicles in Quebec advanced another step this summer when a parliamentary commission on road safety recommended them in a report submitted to the provincial legislature; the matter is expected to be debated this fall.

In a June 2006 document on climate change in Quebec, it was estimated that capping the speed of all heavy vehicles registered in the province would save 10,500 litres per rig per year, worth $8,000.

The report forecast that the measure would reduce carbon dioxide emission in 2012 by 330,000 tonnes.

Of course, the parliamentary commission, focused on reducing the province’s accident rate, has its own agenda, one that overlaps with those of the Quebec trucking Association (QTA), which supports the mandatory use of speed limiters.

“There are still delinquents, and our request for speed limiters is the proof that they are not the majority. They damage the industry from the point of view of our image, competitiveness and on the environmental level,” says QTA president director-general Marc Cadieux.

How soon the use of speed limiters might become law is a gambler’s question, but there are two signs in favour of earlier rather than later adoption: First, the QTA supports the move. Second, the climate change report claims that its implementation would cost nothing.

Speaking of geese and ganders, who thinks that the law making it mandatory for cars and motorcycles to speed should be repealed?