Louisiana lawmaker wants you to slow down

Updated Apr 18, 2017

It appears one Louisiana elected official thinks trucks are driving too fast through his state.

A Republican state lawmaker there has introduced a bill that calls for lowering the speed limit for trucks and buses driving on interstate highways throughout the state to 10 miles an hour slower than the posted limit.

Louisiana mapCurrently, the speed limit for all vehicles is 75 mph on rural interstates, 70 mph on urban interstates and 70 mph on other limited access roads.

House Bill 465 by Representative Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, says the law would apply to private and public vehicles, including school buses.

“Any person operating a school bus, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer, or any combination of these vehicles on any interstate highway of this state shall maintain a speed of at least ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit,” Carter writes in the bill.

The Times-Picayune reports Carter believes lower speeds will result in fewer accidents. It writes on its nola.com website, “… Carter’s not sure whether statistics bear out that safety benefit. He said his office is currently compiling data to show a correlation between slower speeds and fewer accidents.”