The state Senate can't be accused of pandering to public opinion on at least one issue -- longer and wider truck trailer loads on state primary highways. The Senate overwhelmingly passed Sen. Clark Jenkins' bill allowing 53 foot rigs on up to 20,000 miles of roads, longer rigs than the current 48-footers, as well as 10-foot-wide boat/trailer rigs (instead of 8 1/2 feet) at any hour of the day. The State Highway Patrol has warned that the 53-foot rigs will cause a lot of problems for motorists especially in the mountain-road sections of Western North Carolina. The bill will be good for truckers, but it's hard to see how it will do anything but make life harder for car drivers.
But the Senate approved the bill, S 1695,
on a 47-0 vote despite low public support for the bigger rigs.
As Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling notes, only 15 percent of North Carolinians support longer rigs. He sent out an email Tuesday noting, "A new PPP survey finds that just 15% of North Carolinians support a bill that would allow large trucks to travel on a wider variety of state roads.
"The poll found that opposition to the bill is steady across all demographic categories." Click here for more.
