A costly accident Friday on the Oklahoma turnpike might suggest the need for trucks to be driven slower than the car limit of 75 mph. Even with excellent brakes, the weight of loaded trucks keeps them moving long after a well-driven automobile could have been stopped.
If this truck was driven into the stopped automobiles “at full speed,” as is reported, that’s even more to be regretted than if he simply was unable to stop the vehicle after sighting the no-longer moving vehicles ahead.
Such accidents are extremely rare, but perhaps need to be anticipated. Would a truck-only lane be possible as a means of separating the trucks from the much-smaller vehicles most of us drive? On the turnpike, I’ve been passed by trucks being driven much faster than the posted limit, and I’ve passed many more which were being kept under the legal speed limit. Most truck drivers are gentlemen and courteous. Not all are.
Ray Downen
Joplin
Opinion
Voices: Need for less speed
- Opinion
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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Our View: Victims should come first
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