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The history at the motorised commercial vehicle is still a
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short story. barely 100 years old. For the first 60 years of that history, technical progress was a steady process. But since the 1960s vehicle technology has been improving exponentially, led initially by the advent of better roads.
The safety advances in today's truck starts with better slopping. The braking power available means that a 44-tonne artic can slop in a distance comparable with a family saloon car. Disc brakes not only stop the vehicle more quickly and more reliably, but also work with sophisticated electronic brake distribution and
stability control to actively enhance its behaviour on the road. There's more proven technology in a 2004 fleet truck than there was in a trans-Atlantic airliner of 1964, when current speed limits were set.
Improvements are not limited to brakes, however. Steering and suspension are more car-like, giving higher reserves of grip and handling, aided by better designed and maintained tyres. An accident involving a truck today is almost certainly going to be caused by driver inattention, rather than any technical shortcoming of the vehicle. And nothing is more likely to cause inattention than having to drive at an artificially low speed.