Truck speed-limit rule would restrict freedom

The U.S. Transportation Department is moving full speed ahead on a proposed rule that would mandate a device limiting the speed of large commercial trucks and buses, in a move that would be costly not only to truckers but also to liberty.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s proposed rule for commercial trucks would be costly to liberty.

As many truckers know all too well, government has already mandated expensive equipment, such as diesel particulate filters and aerodynamic devices such as trailer skirts, not to mention the imposition of the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Now we may be entering a brave new world where government mandates and police and other government agents directly control the very movement of vehicles.

Under the Transportation Department’s proposed rule, trucks and buses weighing more than 26,000 pounds would have to be equipped with an electronic device that would prevent them from traveling faster than a certain speed. The department is currently considering a speed limit of 60, 65 or 68 mph.

“There are significant safety benefits to this proposed rulemaking,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “In addition to saving lives, the projected fuel and emissions savings make this proposal a win for safety, energy conservation and our environment.”

Of course, the same could be said of reducing the speed limit to 15 mph for everyone, but that does not mean that this would be a good idea.

Besides the costs and safety issues (such as when one needs to step on the gas to avoid an accident), the rule would also open up a Pandora’s box that would threaten privacy rights and the freedom of movement. How long will it be before similar devices are required for passenger vehicles? And what other controls will government demand of our vehicles?

Hackers and researchers have already demonstrated that one can wirelessly hack into various cars’ electronic systems and take control of the steering and brakes, among other things. And there have even been proposals to require vehicles to include a “kill switch” that police – and who knows who else – could activate to disable a vehicle, or to allow police to take control of selfdriving vehicles.

In such a world, scenarios like the scene in the movie “Minority Report,” where Tom Cruise’s character is on the run for intent to commit a “pre-crime” and police take control of his car and proceed to drive it toward the nearest police station, may not be too far off.

But we should not so cavalierly cast off the freedom to travel. As Justice William J. Brennan wrote in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1969 Shapiro v. Thompson decision, “This court long ago recognized that the nature of our federal union and our constitutional concepts of personal liberty unite to require that all citizens be free to travel throughout the length and breadth of our land uninhibited by statutes, rules or regulations which unreasonably burden or restrict this movement.”

Some truck and bus drivers may drive recklessly fast, but that is best remedied through law enforcement, not violating the liberties of those who drive responsibly, even at higher rates of speed. The speed-limit device mandate would only put the government on the fast track to further encroachments on the freedom of movement.

Scenarios like the scene in the movie “Minority Report,” where Tom Cruise’s character is on the run for intent to commit a “pre-crime” and police take control of his car and proceed to drive it toward the nearest police station, may not be too far off.