The administration of soon-to-be-president Donald Trump will decide the fate of a pending US government regulation that would limit the speed electronically of new tractor trailers. 

Safety advocates were pinning their hopes on a decision on the pending rule before President Obama leaves office. They think that Trump might nix the new safety rule.

Two federal agencies have proposed a rule that would cap tractor trailer speeds at 60-68 MPH. Advocates introduced the proposal in 2006 by noting that it would improve highway safety. A public comment period ended in December 2016. The NHTSA has stated that the regular regulatory process will take until August 2017.

Our View

Our tractor trailer accident attorneys who are licensed in Virginia and North Carolina would like to see a reasonable speed limit set for new tractor trailers. Fully loaded big rigs can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds.

When, for example, a big rig rear ends a regular vehicle on the highway in stopped traffic, the resulting impact is absolutely devastating. Death and/or very serious injuries result. If the trucks had their speed limited, perhaps some of these types of tractor trailer crashes could be prevented or at least reduced in severity.

We once settled a rear end trash truck crash for $3.5 million, when a trash truck slammed into a slow moving car on I-264 in Virginia. The car was destroyed and exploded into flames on impact. The passenger in the car was trapped and died in agony.

Our tractor trailer attorneys would like to see fewer of these devastating crashes by trucks, so hope that the new speed limiter rule proceeds.