Orlando, Fla.— Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement, and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to improve road safety in the U.S. They propose legislative initiatives, analyze issues, conduct research, develop strategies, organize coalitions, testify before Congress and state legislatures, file technical comments on federal regulatory actions, prepare fact sheets and other publications including the annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, and educate the public.

Given the fact that no state has a perfect score on the Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, the safety group is urging Congress to enact numerous federal regulations to significantly improve highway safety.

Among those regulations are several mandates for large trucks that the trucking industry has opposed for years if not decades, like a mandates for speed limiters, underride guards and automatic brakes.

In May of 2021, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) opposed a speed limiter mandate, stating that decades of highway research show greater speed differentials increase interactions between truck drivers and other road users. This statement is backed by studies that have consistently demonstrated that increasing interactions between vehicles directly increases the likelihood of crashes.

Front and side underride guards, in OOIDA’s view, would not increase safety and there is lack of evidence of its safety benefits. They also consider it impractical and costly.

OOIDA also opposed another mandate in the highway bill related to the automatic braking expressing concerns about what they considered “imperfect” technology yet.

OOIDA stands strongly against a pilot program for teen truckers to drive interstate, questioning the need for an entirely new pilot program analyzing the performance of younger CMV drivers considering the agency is already conducting a comparable study. The Association claims  that there is clear data to substantiate the fact that younger drivers and inexperienced drivers crash more.

Other proposed 16 state traffic laws are described as follows:

• Primary enforcement front seat belt law.
• Primary enforcement rear seat belt law.
• All-rider motorcycle helmet law.
• Rear-facing child seats through age 2.
• Booster seat law.
• Minimum age 16 for learner’s permit.
• Six-month holding period provision (teen drivers).
• 50 hours of supervised driving provision (teen drivers).
• Nighttime driving restriction (teen drivers).
• Passenger restrictions (teen drivers).
• Age 18 unrestricted license.
• All-offender ignition interlocks.
• Child endangerment law.
• Open container law.
• All-driver text messaging restriction.
• Graduated Driver’s License phone restriction.

The Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws has also been vocal about certain inclusions or omissions of certain provisions in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill which are related to trucking.

According to the organization, most states fall short of optimal safety, with the vast majority of states on a yellow or red rating based on a traffic light red/yellow/green rating.

States that are currently under a green rating include California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, while more than 30 states are in yellow and 11 in the red ranges. Florida is among those 11. Other red rated states include Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.

Achieving a perfect score nationwide, would require the enactment of 400 traffic safety laws, according to the Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws.

Orlando Truck Insurance is a full-service provider of Commercial Insurance products and services for Trucking and Commercial auto insurance. We invite you to review our programs: truck, public transportation, and commercial specialty auto. Orlando Truck Insurance has the products and underwriting experience to meet your insurance needs. As a recognized leader in the local trucking insurance industry, our parent company Garzor Insurance  specialized in serving “niche” or undeserved markets. Our proven, superior underwriting model creates flexibility to write unique coverage’s in a wide array of diverse industries.

To obtain a quote for Truck Insurance, call us at  (407) 203-7085 to speak with a truck insurance specialist. You may also fill out an online questionnaire and one of our staff members will contact you to complete your quote process.

We have the staff, the local experience and the customer service platform to walk you through your insurance coverage options and keep your business well protected. Again, call one of our truck and commercial vehicles insurance specialists today at (407) 203-7085 to get you started in the right track, we’ll be happy to assist!

Diana Munoz - Licensed Agent

Email Diana