“Heavier trucks would also mean that we would be mingling passenger cars with commercial vehicles that have been proven to have crash rates anywhere from 47% to a shocking 400% higher than current weights, according to a 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Transportation. This legislation would bring that heightened risk to every state in the union, including Kansas.
The study found a number of other issues with the proposed Twin 33s, but one data point that sticks out in my mind is their longer stopping distance: It would require another 22 feet for one of these longer trucks to come to a complete stop, compared with the “Double 28s” that are allowed today. We all know that 22 additional feet could be the difference between a near miss and a devastating rear-end collision.”