Why such hatred of large trucks?

In regards to Herman Lenz's Feb. 18 letter about “high-speed rigs,” I certainly hope he read the article the following day titled “Speed-related fatalities in Iowa are nation's lowest.” It states that of 412 fatalities in 2008, only 41 were related to speed - only two on the interstate system, 19 on roads with 55 mph and 17 on roads with 50 mph or slower.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/) defines two categories of trucks: Light trucks, which include anything from minivans to cab chassis-based light trucks, and large trucks, anything from medium and heavy pickups to gross weight vehicles of 19,600 to 80,000 pounds. Large truck does not mean it is always an 18-wheeler. The statistics for 2008, the latest I could find on that Web site, stated there were fatal accidents in Iowa involving two vehicles involved 44 light trucks and only 24 large trucks for that year.

My husband drives a semi truck that is cut back to 64 mph. In his 50-plus years of driving, he has purposely put his truck in the ditch twice to avoid hitting a car full of children on an icy road. He was not speeding, and the cars were sideways in the road.

I do not know what precipitated Mr. Lenz's hatred of large trucks. His letters have gone on for years now. Perhaps it is time to move on.

Kathy Walker

Cedar Rapids