A bill that will exempt many commercial vehicles from federal safety rules passed a Kentucky Senate Committee recently with one police-mandated change.
After Louisville Metro Police officials raised concerns that House Bill 125 would risk leaving unsafe trucks on the roads, the bill was amended to allow police to conduct random safety inspections. A provision that assumes a commercial truck driver to be drunk with a blood alcohol content of 0.04 - half the blood alcohol of most drivers - will be kept in place.
While the bill as originally presented would have allowed police to cite trucks for safety violations, it would not have allowed them to stop the trucks to look for problems.
Drivers of commercial trucks weighing between 10,001 and 26,000 pounds that are not crossing state lines will no longer have to keep daily driving logs or a medical card proving they are healthy enough to drive a truck due to the new bill. These vehicles can range from a pickup with a large trailer to a 24-foot box truck. Read the full details here:
Compromise truck bill passes Kentucky Senate panel
Exempting commercial trucks from portions of Federal Regulations is a dangerous idea. Commercial truck accident deaths rose by 8.7% from 2009 to 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and it has been proven that regulations may be ignored when drivers are looking to shorten their time on the road. Thankfully the police in Kentucky questioned the logic of this attempted legislation, which likely would have led to more commercial trucking accidents in that state.
If you feel that unsafe driving factors exhibited by truck drivers led to a major accident which impacted your family’s life, please contact Crandall & Pera Law. We will provide you and your family with a free, no-obligation case review.