To help avoid truck accidents and bus accidents, new legislation has been put in place around the United States. In this news out of Alabama, devices that would track bus and truck driver hours has been proposed to help stop bus and truck accidents. According to the March 13 report, these vehicles would have to have electronic devices that record how many hours the vehicle has been driven in order to cross state lines.
This proposal made by the government would make it harder for drivers to falsify their time sheets, making it more difficult for them to continue driving after their legally allowed driving limits. This new legislation would hopefully reduce accidents caused by drivers who are tired from driving too long. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, this proposal could help reduce the number of tired drivers on the road, and that has the potential to save around 20 lives and to prevent around 434 injuries each year.
According to the story, there have been safety groups advocating for the use of these devices in the past, and they have been campaigning to get the government to require the devices by law. Two years ago, they succeeded in having the Obama Administration put out new regulations for the industry. However, despite the success in the past, new legislation and regulations like this proposal could take years to implement correctly.
Although there are some benefits and faults to the new proposed devices, the American Trucking Association has welcomed the proposal. It believes this is a way to improve safety and compliance in the industry, which can help bring everyone up-to-date with this technology. Right now, most large trucking companies already use these devices for their drivers, and making smaller companies do the same has been seen as a relatively safe and important step.
Source: Alabama’s 13, “Devices to track truck, bus driver hours proposed” Joan Lowy, Mar. 13, 2014
