B.C. plans to mandate speed limiters on trucks
British Columbia is planning to mandate speed limiters on heavy-duty commercial vehicles, in a bid to reduce speed-related crashes and greenhouse gases.
Rob Fleming, B.C. minister of transportation and infrastructure, tabled Bill 23, which proposes related changes to the Motor Vehicles Act, last week.
“This legislation requires drivers to use appropriate care around pedestrians and cyclists, supports enforcement of regulations, and sets a strong foundation for testing and evaluating new technology and policies as we shift to a net-zero future in B.C.,” Fleming said in a press release.
“We are committed to improving the safety for all road users in B.C. while also creating a cleaner, future-ready transportation network on our roads,” the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told TruckNews.com. “Speed limiter equipment in heavy-duty commercial vehicles has been shown to dramatically reduce speed-related crashes in jurisdictions where their use is required and reduce GHG emissions.”
BCTA support
The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) applauded the move.
“The BCTA is pleased to see the province take action today to address safety concerns while providing more pathways to adopting advancing transportation technologies,” Dave Earle, BCTA president and CEO, said in a statement.
“We’ve advocated for speed limiters on heavy-duty commercial vehicles because the data shows they dramatically reduce the number of at-fault speed-related accidents. Additionally, speed limiters help green our sector by curbing fuel consumption and emissions generated by trucks traveling at high speeds. These amendments will benefit the trucking industry and British Columbians as a whole.”
Law in Ontario and Quebec
Ontario and Quebec are the only two other provinces that mandate the use of speed limiters in trucks.
Ontario made them mandatory in June 2008, capping speeds at 105 km/h. Violators there can be fined not less than $250 and not more than $20,000. Quebec followed suit in 2009 to prevent vehicles from exceeding 105 km/h. It’s offenders could face a fine of $350 to $1,050.
The B.C. ministry is reviewing the programs in Ontario and Quebec to support development of provincial regulations, including the appropriate maximum speed and associated penalties, should Bill 23 pass into law.
Penalties planned
Once in force, penalties will be in place for drivers who do not activate the speed limiter in their vehicle, set the limiter to the prescribed speed, or those who tamper with or modify the device, the ministry said.
These changes are part of B.C.’s Clean Transportation Action Plan to be released later this year.
The amendments represent additional steps the province is taking to meet CleanBC: Roadmap to 2030 emissions reduction targets, and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation by 27% to 32%.
The bill also proposes amendments to create a safer environment for vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians, and supports the shift to increased active transportation.
- This story has been updated with comments from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Might help if you look at motor vehicle testing first.fast tracking out of country drivers and multi language testing for written is wrong.i have been driving 45 yrs incident free and now being punished for the new steering wheel holders with no experience or training.melt is just another way of charging more for their licenses. Big transport companies just filling seats and inexperienced drivers training new drivers.ready to pull the pin and call it quits .elogs are no better by the way more speeding with those installed as well .I see it daily and I am appalled .but what do I know.office Bearcats know better
All provinces, RCMP, Canada, CVSE, all municipalities and many many more are ALL “FOR PROFIT PRIVATE CORPORATIONS” with no jurisdiction! They have about as much jurisdiction as someone who works at Tim Horton’s.
Everyone needs to learn and [under]stand this.
What you do, and who you are, are two entirely different things. For example, if you are a policy enforcer (cop), then it better say “officer” John Smith on your driver’s license or passport, if it doesn’t, then you’re just John Smith with no jurisdiction.
The same applies to a truck driver, pilot, MP etc.
Who writes these so-called laws? What gives them the authority to write and enforce them?
The only thing that gives these men & women any authority is the people, because that’s what we have been taught.
The ONLY laws should be, respect one another and do no harm!
Mandating electronic logging has made truckers drive faster, period. Statistically and anecdotally proven but the politicians and bureaucrats do not admit their mistakes. Too many poorly trained drivers pushing too hard equals mayhem. And as for the BCTA, well that’s a happy hour golf tournament distraction good for a quote to lazy journalists who can’t or won’t drill down into the story.
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Right on with your comments.
Speed limiters is not the answer. Having 2 set speeds is wrong speed limiter should be done with enforcement . Training
Speed limiters are a joke … they can be reseted at any speed you want and it won’t show on the ECM … it only causes road rage here in ontario and Quebec ….many trucks are set higher than 105 klm. And so the shovel game is always on … the 400 and the,401,
Good Luck BC
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Maybe inforce the speed limits already in
place and higher fines then implement speed limiters on the bad actors according to there carrier profiles/csa scores
Seems like a deterrent to me
If the limit is set at 120 k/h it won’t be so bad.
your ignorance in this matter is incredible. it comes down to training drivers properly, i drive a 1997 Mack, the emmisions i create register 08 on the meters, the new trucks blow so clean , shop doors do not need to be opened,
Cummins engine exhaust if running in California puts out cleaner air than it takes in. if shops look after peoples trucks like mine looks after my truck, it keeps the environment safe.
As for speeding trucks causing accidents , train your drivers. most do not know how to drive the B.C. Hwys.
and from what I have heard around the trucking industry is there is a certain group and it would be insurance fraud.
Thank you for letting me comment
After spending most of my career in ON, I now run BC. As a driver i only saw more frustration among four wheelers towards truck drivers in ON after limiters were implemented, thus not making safer roads but unsafer and unpredictable. I’m pretty sure most trucker that have been pre and post speed limiters will tell you, from personal observation. The frequency and severity of crashes has not decreased. Those quoted statistics are skewed, to justify limiters.. The problem with the industry is, it needs better drivers. Drivers that understand the limitations of they vehicles, and drivers that know the responsibilities they have taken on and respect them. Trucks already have a target on them this just makes the target bigger
I’m not against speed limiters. However they should be intuitive. So if it’s a 50 zone you can’t go over 53. Or 80 zone say 85 etc. Problem with speed limiters is they only slow down highway speeds. Trucks can still be aggressive in areas with speed limits lower than 100 km an hour. So what does it really change then?
With the new elds everyone has. Why don’t they just go after the companies with speed related accidents. It’s all there on the computer you can see it all. Fine them make them speed restricted. Seems silly to put it on the industry and hurt everyone that did not have speed related issues!
Speed limiters limit earning potential of drivers, causes problems passing on 2 lane highways and limits the power of the truck to climb a hill requiring additional fuel. Just look at the accidents on highway 11 in Ontario. Most of the truck accidents are a result of passing issues and speed limiters.
Well thank you BCTA for your usual government endorsement Im sure you stopped the golf cart to write it !
Im surprised any one actually asks your opinion because you have never actually accomplished anything for the industry
Until BCTA can stand up and point a finger at what the true problems are ( training and immigration scams ) nothing will change
I don’t have any objection to people wanting to come to this country for a better life !!
The issue is when they are put in the driver seat without knowing what they are doing and often not wanting to even be there !
Not the only problem by any means but a good place to start ..but then our public safety minister would actually have to care about public safety instead of his usual comment on its a federal problem
E-logs and 105km are just knee jerk reactions and will do nothing for the industry safety ( Have been on e-logs for 5 years FYI )
The argument of emissions is laughable being as they could not even clean up the ports
I think on the roads in bc with limited passing lanes and severe weather you are gonna cause a lot of traffic congestion. With the short passing lanes trucks are gonna try to pass motorists doing under the speed limit and use up the full passing lanes not allowing other traffic to pass. You will also get drivers getting impatient and taking more chances. In severe weather sometimes you need throttle to get out of some situations that you now won’t have. Bc roads are an entirely different animal than the more populated and flatter provinces.
This action is not needed in BC, better training and understanding of our highway system.
We have a high % of foreign drivers, they are not taught properly.
Of course fines are planned because that is always the answer is to steal money from drivers and companies, where does money go ? More goverment. Your actions are out of touch with reality and will be met with a great deal of resistance from the people who actually do the work you try and control.
Greener future my ass.
There are bad sides to speed limiters. 1) if you start to jack knife, you need to speed up to regain control. Samething if you blow a steer tire. 2) when ever you try to pass a 4 wheeler or another truck on a 2 lane road or devided hey, 9 times out of 10 they will speed up. Safety goes way down when you are stuck out in opposing trffic trying to pass someone who was going 5 to 10 k under the speed limit until you yry to pass. And of course if you go back in behind they will slow down again. Having 2 sets of speed rules on a road is not safe. There have been studies on that roo.
This act will literally do nothing. Especially in the hilly terrain of B.C, all this is gonna do for me as a driver is burn more fuel climbing a hill because my engine now only gives me power to 105kmh, while prior a smart driver will use another hill and negative grades to find their speeds to make it more efficiently up the next hill. But hey keep up the “Feel Good” vibes B.C
Yet another prime example of people making rules that do not have a clue about how things work in the real world. Traffic backs up bad enough here in Alberta on our 4 lane divided roads; I can’t Imagine how long the line will be when trucks are trying to pass on a short passing lane. Oh wait-they can use the 3rd lane; it doesn’t matter if there is a double solid line-that’s a passing lane as well!!!
Visible enforcement would help; and yes proper training as well
Just more”feel good” politics.Nothing will change until drivers are properly trained before they are let loose behind the wheel.It sure didn’t help to cut back on crashes in Ontario.You can’t replace proper training ,experience and common sense with a speed limiter.