TORONTO — Truckers could be forgiven for wondering why the government and the Ontario Trucking Association are bent on mandating speed limiters on all trucks when the province’s roads and highways are already the second safest on the continent.

According to recent MTO numbers, Ontario had only 0.87 road fatalities per 10,000 licensed drivers — second only to the Northwest Territories. Total fatalities have dropped by over 20 percent over the past decade, despite a significant rise in traffic volumes over that time.

The province has ranked among the safest in North America for the past 11 years.

“Even with more people and vehicles on our roads than ever before, Ontario has maintained an excellent road safety record year after year,” said Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.

A crackdown on drinking and driving and street racing, improving school bus and truck safety, and advanced safety technology of modern vehicles are all reasons for a reduction in severe crashes over the last 10 years.

One trucker who emailed us pointed out that the province is doing just fine without having to enact speed legislation targeting trucks only — statistically, already the safest vehicles on the road.

But, on its website, the OTA points out there shouldn’t be a ceiling on highway safety and that mandatory speed limiters set at 105 km/h would enhance the province’s impressive track record.

Though, whether speed limiters would actually reduce severe crashes or cause more frequent collisions (due to a larger gap in speed differential between vehicle types) has been hotly debated in this province for years.