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“In my experience analyzing fatal crashes, bigger trucks would be a disaster for public safety,” said Bodenheimer. “It’s simple physics. More weight means more force, turning what could have been a fender bender into a fatal crash”. “These two bills are bad news for motorist safety, and they are bad news for law enforcement as well.” Bodenheimer continued. “With explosive population growth and even more tourists on our roads in Central Florida, having Congress add more dangerous, heavier trucks to…

For Missouri, FARS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System — considered the most complete and accurate crash dataset — shows a total of 140 fatalities in crashes involving large trucks in the state for 2021, the most recent year with complete data available. That represents an increase of nearly 18% compared to the previous year. For Kansas, the crash database shows that Kansas had 79 fatalities in 2021, up from 73 in 2020, an 8% increase.…

“New products come to the market regularly, and consumers have come to expect significant testing and safeguards, especially for products that can affect public safety. This is why law enforcement nationwide is concerned with legislation under consideration in Congress that would allow bigger trucks on our roads. Some bills would dramatically increase the allowable weight of semi-trailer trucks that have already been approved by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. And there continues to be talk of allowing even longer…

One proposal would create a 10-year “pilot project” allowing 91,000-pound trucks — five and a half tons heavier than today’s limits. The goal: to see how many of these trucks are involved in crashes and to report the number of injuries and deaths. The usual years of data analysis and testing? Not for these 91,000-pound behemoths. The goal is to skip the typical due diligence and put them on roads immediately across America. Motorists become the guinea pigs in this…

“In my experience analyzing fatal crashes, bigger trucks would be a disaster for public safety,” Vandalia Police Chief Kurt Althouse said. “It’s simple physics. More weight means more force, turning what could have been a fender bender into a fatal crash”. Althouse said truck crashes are at a “crisis level” in Ohio and recent data shows 2021 to be the worst year in recent history.   Read More + Watch the video here +     …

“OOIDA has long opposed efforts to increase the size and weight of commercial vehicles on our nation’s roadways, and we hope that you will reject any efforts to do so through any single bill or as part of larger legislative negotiations on infrastructure, appropriations or Farm Bill reauthorization,” the Association wrote in the letter signed by President and CEO Todd Spencer. Read More +…

Deputy Chief Engineer Andrew Heath told the State Transportation Board on Wednesday that the Georgia Department of Transportation and local governments will post signs with weight restrictions on the additional bridges by Sept. 2, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The tally includes 306 state-owned bridges and 427 local bridges.   Read More +…

“We all know the basic science behind weight,” said Steven Casstevens, who serves on the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks’ law enforcement board. “The heavier the truck, the longer the stopping distance.” “We’re not opposed to trucks,” Roseberry said. “… Everybody would agree they’re vital to the economy and keeping everything going. The question is … at what weight should these things continue to operate?” The Safe Routes Act is not limited to Wisconsin, but would have nationwide effects, and Roseberry said…

With the recent passage of a bill to increase truck weight limits in Georgia, not all state and local officials are on board with the measure. WALB’s Jim Wallace spoke to a local official who rallied against the bill. Melissa Hughes is a Tift county commissioner. She’s in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress about trucks’ weight. Your lobbying efforts, how were they taken on Wednesday? “It was received very well and all the staffers that I spoke with, they said that…

“A new report co-authored by Klasner states that more than 72,000 bridges nationwide cannot safely handle the proposed heavier truck weights. Replacing the bridges, Klasner said, would cost taxpayers more than $60 billion. In Illinois, 1,252 bridges would be put at risk, he said, with a replacement cost of more than $1 billion.”   Read more+…