Community Alumni
May 28, 2015There's 2 reasons come to mind.
1) Most trailers are running ST tires, most of which are limited to 65 MPH max. Sustaining a speed that exceeds the speed rating of any tire damages it. The damage is cumulative and irreparable. This isn't damage that you can see either. I would imagine the damage to an ST is a little more dramatic since most spend the majority of their lives heavily loaded.
2) The unexpected. While it's true that the there's controlled access on a highway, lots of things that happen once everyone's on it. People expect the best, but forget to plan for the worst. Things like accidents, random slow downs in traffic, jaywalking animals, changes in road surfaces, lost loads, even roaming buckets. With the average human reaction time of 1.5 seconds, you'll cover an additional 22 ft, at 70 MPH vs 60 MPH, before you even react to what's going on. As we age the reaction time gets even higher. Once your brain has finally processed that you need to take action, you now need to decide what to do and maintain control while doing it. That extra 22 ft could be invaluable. I don't think that anyone would argue that it would be easier to control your combo, in a bad situation, at a slower speed.
Couple that with the fact that lots of people have very little experience or training towing anything, let alone a several thousand lb brick behind them. I wouldn't give a second thought to a retired trucker towing at the speed limit with LTs on the trailer, but that's not the majority of people out there.
