Can truck brakes do it? The life-saving potential of new truck stopping distance requirements

You don’t need a lot of imagination to picture the disaster of an 80,000 pound semi-trailer at 60 miles an hour on a Louisiana freeway suddenly faced with stopped traffic at 300 feet.

The truck’s speed could be higher, or the distance shorter, making the crash inevitable, but improving the braking performance of trucks will save lives in many cases. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to cut the allowed stopping distance of heavy tractor-trailers by 30 percent for new trucks, beginning in 2011. For a truck at 60 miles per hour, this would cut the allowed distance from 355 feet to 250 feet, a considerable achievement.

Many passenger car drivers do not realize that massive trucks, like 18-wheelers, need a far longer distance to come to a standstill than cars. Some motorists will fill a short open space in front of a truck just to be in the right lane, unaware that the truck will never be able to stop in time if they have to brake. Trucks need distance in front of them, in proportion to their ability to come to a stop.

How do stopping distances of cars and trucks compare?

The stopping distance is calculated as travelled distance during the reaction time plus the travelled distance during the decelerating phase. The distances needed to come to a standstill for passenger cars and big trucks compare as follows at different speeds (*):

Speed        Stopping Distance Cars    Stopping Distance Trucks    Truck / Car
40 mph        124’                169’            + 36 percent
55 mph        225’                335’            + 49 percent
65 mph        316’                525’            + 66 percent

* The above estimates are for 80,000 pound loaded tractor-trailers and mid-size passenger cars traveling on a dry, level road. Source: National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course for Professional Truck Drivers.

Let’s hope that with the new braking regulations, the truck fleet on Louisiana’s roads will gradually become safer and that, despite ever-increasing traffic, truck accident statistics will continue to point southwards.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Louisiana truck accident, contact the truck accident attorneys of the Young Firm immediately for a free consultation on your case at (504) 680-4100 (local) or (866) 660-7220 (toll free), or by sending us an e-mail.