A California state lawmaker, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, is pushing for groundbreaking regulations on speed limiters and side underride guards for trucks in the state. Wiener aims to enhance road safety by reducing traffic fatalities and injuries on California highways.
Under the proposed bill, SB961, all trucks, trailers, or semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 10,000 pounds must be equipped with side underride guards on both lateral sides of the vehicle. The California Highway Patrol would be responsible for inspecting these guards after any collision. Vehicle operators would also be required to conduct regular inspections for damage and functionality, replacing damaged units as necessary.
Additionally, Wiener’s proposal mandates speed governors for every car, truck, and bus manufactured and sold in the state. These speed-limiting devices would cap the vehicle speed at 10 mph over the posted speed limit for a particular roadway segment. Although operators can temporarily override the speed governor function, the measure is designed to address the rising number of road fatalities in California.
Wiener highlighted the concerning surge in road deaths within the state, citing a 2023 TRIP report indicating a 22% increase in traffic fatalities from 2019 to 2022, compared to a 19% national increase. The California Office of Traffic Safety’s 2023 Traffic Safety Report revealed that one-third of traffic fatalities from 2017 to 2021 were speed-related.
“Preventing reckless speeding is a commonsense approach to prevent these utterly needless and heartbreaking crashes,” Wiener said.
Similar initiatives are underway in New York, with bills covering comparable topics. A New York Senate bill proposes side underride guards for trucks in New York City, while another bill aims to equip passenger vehicles registered in the state in 2024 or later with speed limiters.
However, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), representing small-business truckers, opposes these legislative pursuits, considering them “flawed.”
“Any legislation that would require side underride guards on semi-trailers is flawed legislation from the start,” said Doug Morris, OOIDA director of state government affairs.
OOIDA argues that the associated costs outweigh the benefits, echoing their criticism of a federal side underride guard mandate.
“[They] are impractical, provide little to no safety benefit and cause major issues at many loading docks, railroad crossings as well as other traffic impediments,” Morris said.
As debates unfold on these proposed regulations, the trucking industry faces ongoing challenges in balancing safety measures with economic considerations.
Source: Land Line
