Impact of Delays on California Drivers

A proposed federal rule that would require certain trucks to have speed limiters installed on them has been delayed by the Office of Management and Budget. The implementation of a rule that would create a database of truck drivers in California and around the country who have failed a drug or alcohol test has also been delayed. This database was named the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.

Instead of sending the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget on April 18, the rule will instead be sent to that office on May 6. The official publication date has been pushed back from July 28 to Aug. 6. This information would have to be provided to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by carriers at least once a year, and it would have to be reviewed before any driver could be hired.

There is no definitive date as to when the rule regarding speed limiters could be published. It is merely listed as Spring 2016 in the DOT’s latest report whereas the March report listed a publication date of April 28. The rule would require governors that limit a truck’s top speed be placed on any vehicle weighing more than 27,000 pounds. That rule was first sent to the OMB in May 2015.

Unfortunately, drunk truck drivers cause many injury accidents every year. If and when implemented, the new database will at least be an attempt to keep some of them off of the road. A person who is injured in such an accident may want to have legal help in filing a lawsuit that would seek compensation from the impaired driver and, in some cases, the trucking company itself as well.