Friday March 29th, 2024 12:48AM

Proposed regulation on tractor trailer safety open for public comment in Georgia

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed regulation that would require tractor trailers over 26,000 pounds to be equipped with a speed limiting device is open for a 60 day comment period to the public.
 
Road Safe America, an Atlanta non-profit organization, is urging Georgia residents to contact lawmakers to voice their opinions on the proposed rule.
 
“The government has an immediate opportunity to significantly reduce these horrific crashes on our highways. They are missing it either out of ignorance about the technology already in trucks, or because they are too far removed from the devastating impact of these accidents to care, or both,” said Steve Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America.
 
“Electronic speed governors have been built into heavy commercial trucks for two decades, so there is absolutely no reason why this new rule shouldn’t be mandated for those big-rigs. We’re not the only ones who want change. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) also supports the use of speed limiters in these trucks.”
 
According to the NHTSA, there were 4,067 fatalities in crashes involving large trucks in 2015. That total is 4.1 percent more than there were in 2014, a 20 percent increase since 2009 and the largest number of people killed annually since 2008.
 
Owings said the rising number of fatalities played a role in his decision to start Road Safe America in 2002, but one in particular played an even larger role.
 
"Our son Cullum was on his way back to college in Virginia the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2002 when he came to a stop in traffic. The only vehicle that did not stop safely was the tractor trailer behind him that was driven well over the posted speed limit on cruise control," Owings said.
 
"The driver did not touch the brakes until he was within 100 feet of Cullum's car, killing our boy."
 
Owings said after a decade of wrangling with lawmakers, the Department of Transportation has proposed a speed limiter rule, but the enforcement would only apply to new trucks and not existing ones although Owings states most existing trucks already have speed governor technology.
 
During the current 60-day comment period, which began Sept. 7, 2016, Road Safe America is encouraging all citizens to contact their representatives in Congress.
 
“It’s foolish and utterly wasteful not to use existing technology to save thousands of lives,” said Owings.
 
“Think about this: A fully loaded tractor-trailer weighing 80,000 pounds, traveling under ideal conditions at a speed of 65 mph, will take 525 feet to stop in an emergency- almost the length of two football fields, much further than a car needs from that speed. A speeding big-rig is by definition out of control. The faster they go, the further this stopping differential becomes. We ask that every American join the fight to prevent speeding by big-rigs. You could be saving the life of a family member or close friend.”
 
Owings was a recent guest on AccessWDUN's Afternoon News Wrap
  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News, Politics
  • Associated Tags: tractor trailer, big rig, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , Road Safe America, speed limiter
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