Unfettered Letters

Mexican trucks

Linda Snider (3/31, Voices) commenting on The Star’s editorial “Let Mexican trucks roll across the U.S. border” ( 3/27, Opinion), said, “I don’t want their people here, and I don’t want their products here.”

Let’s get this straight, Linda. My people and our products were here long before you were here, and they will be here long after you and I are no longer here.

Olivia Lopez
Kansas City

Trucks on highways

I have just returned from a trip to New Jersey, much of which was driven on Interstate 70. Somehow, my driving experience doesn’t mesh with the findings as reported in The Star’s front-page story of May 25 regarding big-rig safety (A-1, “Stealth big-rig patrol finds safety surprises; Passenger-vehicle drivers get their share of tickets in enforcement tactic”). I find it hard to believe that not one citation for speeding by large trucks was listed in the commercial vehicle violations (Page A-14).

My own experience is that for me to drive safely, I have to drive faster than I really want to in order to stay out of the way of the 18-wheelers. This is particularly annoying in hilly country where the truckers frequently push their vehicles to over 80 mph coming down hill to compensate for the next up-hill climb. And if your little car is in the way, better watch out!

If Missouri State Highway Patrol and others charged with public safety on our highways want a good model, they should look to Ohio. Driving I-70 in Ohio was a pleasure. The posted speed for smaller vehicles is 65 mph, while for larger commercial vehicles it is 55 mph — and those speeds are enforced for the most part.

Dale Fisk
Pleasant Hill

Big trucks on highway

In the wake of the horrific accident on Interstate 70 that took the lives of four ladies from Kansas City, I see that the director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, Pete Rahn, has an "idea" for relieving the anxiety of driving next to the huge semi-trailer trucks between Kansas City and St. Louis (7/1, Local).

His idea is to build separate lanes for trucks and cars at a cost to taxpayers of $3.5 billion. He wants two lanes in each direction, for a $7 billion outlay.

Wait a minute. Didn't we used to have this already? Wasn't it called the railroad?

Georgia Mueller
Belton

License confusion

While I was driving on I-35 recently, my windshield was struck by a large piece of wood that flew out of a dump truck. I called 911 and reported my location and the license plate number of the truck. I thought I had everything covered. Boy, was I wrong.

The highway patrol informed me that it wasn’t considered an accident because there was no body damage to the vehicle. If the piece of wood had flown through the windshield and killed my children and me, but caused no body damage, would that have been considered an accident?

In addition, the patrolman said he wasn’t able to track the license plate because it was apportioned, meaning that more that one truck has the same plate number. So the trucker went along his way without bearing any responsibility for the damage. I will have to replace the windshield at my own expense. If I had known all of this, I would have followed the truck.

We need to get the law changed so that each truck has its own license plate number.

Andrea DeHart
Olathe

Dangerous trucks

On July 26, I joined the exclusive club of being a victim of a collision with an 18-wheeler. In my case, I was hit in the left rear. The truck was traveling in excess of 80 mph, overtaking me at my 65 mph. The truck driver lost control of his vehicle and drove my vehicle off the road, more than 200 feet into a farm. I collided with a concrete sewer drain.

It is time for the Missouri legislature to pass a mandatory regulation to lower the speed limit for large vehicles to 60 mph. Those drivers of large rigs who oppose this need to have mandatory speed governors installed.

Many people meet their deaths as a result of these trucks rolling at 80-plus mph squashing everything in their way.

These trucks are a menace to the American motorists. They need to be brought under more rigid control by the state governments.

Craig R. Vance
Independence