Provincial regulations that require heavy commercial trucks to be equipped with digital speed-limiting devices as of Friday, April 5 are getting mixed reviews from the trucking industry.
According to a provincial government bulletin, commercial vehicles manufactured after 1994 with a gross-vehicle-weight rating of more than 11,793 kilograms must have these devices installed to legally operate in B.C., programmed to a maximum speed of 105 km/h.
The devices prevent acceleration beyond that. The desired result, the bulletin reads, is “keeping roadways safer for all travellers.” The provincial government announced their mandatory use last December, with non-compliance reaping a fine and $368 victim surcharge.
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The mandatory use of speed-limiter devices comes into effect on April 5, 2024, as announced by the Province in December 2023. Emergency vehicles and motorhomes are not included in this and other exemptions are at the discretion of the director of Commercial Vehicle and Safety Enforcement.
The new rules align B.C. with other jurisdictions that have seen a reduction in crashes as a result. “As heavy commercial vehicles regularly travel cross-country, speed limiters provide consistency for carriers and truckers who travel between B.C., Ontario and Quebec, where these requirements also exist,” the bulletin states.
Ontario in 2009 adopted similar regulations and within two years experienced a 73 per cent decline in speed-related crashes involving heavy commercial vehicles.
Manraj Dhillon, spokesman for the BC Trucking Association, which represents roughly 1,200 trucking companies, told the Now-Leader said the reaction among members is “mixed.”
“Not necessarily everyone is happy with it but it’s been something that we’ve been working on for many years now,” Dhillon said. “It’s definitely not fully positive, I would say there’s a push-back as well.”