WTVM Editorial 02/15/22: Heavier Trucks Will Kill

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - One of the bills up for debate in this year’s Georgia State Legislature is House Bill 189.

It would allow trucks carrying up to 90,000 pounds to drive the county and state roads of Georgia without an overweight permit.

You might think this issue doesn’t affect you if you’re not a truck driver.

But it does.

Proponents of heavier truck loads say it would mean fewer trucks on the road cutting down on truck traffic.

Without increasing their weight limit, some truckers say Georgia will be at a big disadvantage when it comes to speedy shipping and getting more goods to market faster.

Opponents of the bill say safety concerns and accelerated road wear will be especially costly if the legislature succeeds in allowing heavier truck loads.

Consider that heavier trucks take much longer to stop…and carry much more mass, making the chance of a bad crash becoming a catastrophic one.

Every year hundreds of Georgians’ lives are lost in big truck crashes…a number guaranteed to multiply if trucks are allowed to increase the weight of their cargo.

Every single big truck crash changes a family – and usually more than one family – forever.

Losing a son or mother; a husband or brother in a devastating crash is a loss that can’t be measured.

If Georgia votes for heavier trucks, those trucks won’t be able to use interstate highways where the weight limit is capped at 80,000 pounds.

The heavy trucks will instead only drive on state, county, and local roads, creating dangerous driving conditions where we live.

And heavier trucks will tear up the asphalt and weaken bridges faster, leaving local taxpayers to foot road repair bills out of their already overburdened city and county budgets.

We urge you to contact your local Georgia House representative and tell them to vote against House Bill 189 to keep overweight trucks off our roads.

The lives of people you love depend on it.

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