Millions of vehicles traverse Georgia’s highways each year, forcing trucks and cars to travel alongside each other. Crashes caused by trucks are often extremely serious, and sometimes deadly, due to the fact that they are so much larger and heavier than passenger vehicles.
A federal regulation has been in the works for the past few years that would require trucks to have speed-limiters installed in order to prevent such deadly accidents. The rule had support from both industry associations and federal agencies. In addition to preventing fatal accidents, it was also anticipated to save billions of dollars each year in fuel costs and the costs of road deaths. Other nations in the world already have such rules in place.
However, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January that may prevent the speed-limiter regulation from ever being implemented. It says that if a federal agency wants to adopt a new rule, it must get rid of two other rules already on the books at the same time. The executive order was issued in order to cut down on the what some see as overregulation by the government that prevents businesses from succeeding. It also limits how much the implementation of new rules can cost. However, safety advocates are concerned about what this policy may mean for rules such as this one that are designed to save the lives of American drivers.
In the meantime, truck drivers who exceed the speed limit remain a threat to those that must share the road with them. People whose lives have been affected by a crash involving a truck may wish to contact an experienced attorney.
Source: Insurance Journal, “Truck Speeding Fix Among Safety Rules Halted by Trump Anti-Regulation Order,” Alan Levin, July 7, 2017