Vehicles over 26,000 pounds could become subject to a new rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The rule would require vehicles over 26,000 pounds have a speed limiter installed.
The rule has been pushed by an unusual group: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) along with American Trucking Associations (ATA’s) and a group called Road Safe America (RSA). RSA is a private citizen’s organization that was founded by the family of a young man who was killed when a speeding 70,000 pound tractor trailer ran into his car.
RSA petitioned the Department of Transportation (DOT) to produce the rule, and the NHTSA requested public comment on both its petition and the ATA’s. DOT’s report says “thousands of comments supporting the petition’s request” came in, propelling the agencies to act on them.
While the FMCSA has not indicated what the speed would be limited to, it did say that the rule “would decrease the estimated 1,115 fatal crashes” each year involving trucks that would be subject to the speed limiter rule.
FMCSA Associate Administrator for Policy Larry Minor said at the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee in February that the rule could be “retroactive,” and the agency intends to explore applying the speed limiter to all trucks, requiring fleets to retrofit on older equipment along with requiring the limiters on new trucks.
“We believe this rule would have a minimal cost, as all heavy trucks already have these devices installed, although some vehicles do not have the limit set,” says the DOT.
According to the DOT the rule is slated to be sent to Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx for approval in May and then sent to the White Houses’ Office of Management and Budget In June. The rule could be published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in October.
