New Federal Rule on Airbrakes will Save Lives
New Federal Rule on Airbrakes in Trucks will save lives
A new federal rule that goes into effect in November will decrease stopping distance requirements for heavy truck tractors, and that’s a good thing (but read “the rest of the story”).
The rule requires new heavy truck tractors to achieve a 30 percent reduction in stopping distance from current levels.
Presently, stopping distance requirements for air-braked buses is 280 feet, while air-braked single unit trucks must stop within 310 feet and air-braked truck tractors must stop within 355 feet.
For heavy trucks, the amended standard (click here) would require vehicles to stop by no more than 250 feet when loaded to their gross vehicle weight rating and tested at a speed of 60 mph, and within 235 feet when lightly loaded. Some service tractors would have a stopping distance requirement of 310 feet under the same conditions.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration these enhanced braking systems will save 227 lives annually and prevent 300 serious injuries each year. According to the Federal Register, improved brakes in tractor-trailers will prevent over $169 million in property damage each year.
Compliance with the rule (improving air brake performance) can be done with existing systems already on the market. Unfortunately, although the rule goes into effect in November 2009, compliance isn’t required for tractor trailers until August 2013. What this means is that many owners and operators will wait until 2013 to make these improvements to their trucks, and that means years of unnecessary deaths, injuries, and damage even though the technology exists today to make trucks safer.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
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