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“INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 2024, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE ADVANCED SAFETY TECHNOLOGY TAX ACT OF 2009” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E941 on April 22, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 2024, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE ADVANCED SAFETY
TECHNOLOGY TAX ACT OF 2009
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HON. DAVID DREIER
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 2024, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2009. This bill is an important step toward improving safety in the commercial vehicle industry. It offers tax credits to incentivize businesses to implement proven safety systems for their fleet. These market-ready technologies will help reduce the number of truck-related crashes, injuries and fatalities on our Nation's roads.
H.R. 2404 addresses a number of critical concerns. First, it identifies widely recognized technologies that are proven to increase safety on our roads. Brake stroke monitoring, collision warning, lane departure warning and vehicle stability systems are proven to reduce collisions, rollovers and crashes resulting from brake failure. We know from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's, FMCSA, 2006 Large Truck Crash Causation Study that these are the most prevalent types of large truck crashes.
Second, during these challenging economic times, there is no better way to move businesses in the right direction on increasing their safety systems than to provide tax incentives, reducing their financial burdens. This is especially important considering that 95 percent of all trucking companies have fewer than 20 trucks, making almost the entire industry one composed of small businesses.
Finally, this bill takes an appropriate long-term view of emerging safety systems technology by allowing the FMCSA or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to add qualified safety systems for this tax incentive, once they are proven to significantly enhance the safety or security of drivers and vehicles. I strongly believe that GPS navigation devices for trucks should be made eligible for this incentive. In order to certify this technology as a proven safety system, I have asked the FMCSA to study the effectiveness of GPS navigation devices for trucks and their ability to improve safety for drivers and vehicles. In addition, I have asked the Federal Highway Administration to ensure that any real-time information programs implemented by the Department of Transportation include truck safety as one of its major determinants of effective real-time data collection and dissemination.
There are cutting edge technologies in the navigational device, mapping software and data collection industries that are available and deployed to fleets right now. However, with so many small trucking companies and owner/operator small businesses, not all fleets have access to these sophisticated systems. In addition, challenges remain in the industry with respect to timely and accurate data collection specific to trucks, including changing road conditions or restrictions, as well as grade inclines and declines. There is also a lack of information dissemination to drivers, fleet managers and dispatch centers with no real national framework for real-time data, especially for interstate trucking needs. Unfortunately, my district has seen the tragic consequences of these gaps first hand.
Last September, a tractor trailer filled with over 75,000 pounds of onions was routed onto the Angeles Crest Highway in Southern California, State Rte. 2, by a driver using a GPS navigation device seeking the shortest route to his destination. The Angeles Crest Highway is not suitable for tractor trailers due to its turns and grade inclines and declines. However, the road is often used by drivers as a short-cut in order to avoid congestion on 1-210 and 1-5. With his brakes losing function on the decline into the City of La Canada Flintridge, the driver lost control of the truck and it plowed through one of the main intersections in the city, through a parking lot, and fortunately only resulted in one injury. Earlier this month, on April 1, an eerily similar accident took place at exactly the same location, but the result was tragically fatal. A driver was using the same Angeles Crest Highway short-cut. His brakes were seen smoking, indicating they had burned out on the steep grade of the road. He hit a vehicle, killing Angel and Angelina Posca, a father and his 12-year-old daughter; struck several more vehicles seriously injuring a dozen more individuals, three critically; and crashed through a bookstore in a local shopping center, causing significant property damage. While the investigation is ongoing, we know that there was a GPS navigation device in the cab of that truck.
In the aftermath of these accidents, our local leaders in La Canada Flintridge have been working tirelessly to find solutions that will prevent this kind of accident from happening again in our area and in any other community across the country. I am very pleased that CalTrans banned truck traffic on Angeles Crest Highway for 90 days and that they are now working with the city and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on mitigation measures that will ensure this road remains free of trucks. I also applaud California State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino and State Senator Carol Liu for introducing State legislation to prohibit, with specified exemptions, truck traffic on the Angeles Crest Highway. I am honored to be working alongside our local leaders in pursuing all means necessary to improve safety on our roads. Like them, I am committed to seeing real-time information provided to drivers through GPS navigation devices that can relay the kind of information drivers need to make the safest decisions on the road.
I strongly believe we must partner cutting-edge safety systems with the kinds of incentives provided in this bill to improve truck safety on our roads. I want to thank my colleagues Mike Thompson and Geoff Davis for providing the leadership they have on this issue and am proud to join them in this effort. I encourage all my colleagues to support this important legislation.
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