National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed standards for onboard event data recorders (EDRs) in light vehicles if vehicle manufacturers choose to install them, but it issued no recommendation for heavy trucks. An EDR detects a crash and records certain information, such as speed or seat belt use, for several seconds of time before, during and after the collision. For more information, visit this site and search Docket No. 18029.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour last month signed legislation (HB 13) that enacts major reforms to the state’s tort system, including venue reform; a limit on non-economic damage awards against non-medical businesses of $1 million; joint and several liability reform; and protections against punitive damages for small and medium-sized businesses.
House-passed version of the Defense Department appropriations bill (H. R. 4200) would require an evaluation of whether and under what circumstances the department should not tender security-sensitive cargo to more than one motor carrier in a group of carriers that are under common financial or administrative control. A report is due by January.
Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead is uncomfortable with the DOT’s plan to delay until May of next year a proposed rule requiring commercial driver’s license applicants to prove citizenship or legal presence in the country. Currently, CDLs must provide only a Social Security number, which workers with temporary work visas can obtain and use even after those visas expire.
American Trucking Associations is encouraging carriers to share online at this site their plans for celebrating National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, slated for Aug. 22-28.
Texas will expand a pilot program offering free wireless Internet at four rest stops to provide the service at all of the state’s 84 rest areas and 12 travel information centers. The Texas Department of Transportation is seeking proposals from vendors to supply free service for anyone already equipped with wireless Internet hardware. The state also plans to offer pay telephone-like Internet access at kiosks.
