Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This amendment would prohibit the use of funds for FMCSA and NHTSA-- two agencies--to finalize their joint notice of proposed rulemaking mandating the use of speed limiting devices on heavy-duty trucks and buses. To support their proposal, FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration focused on the potential decrease in the severity of accidents. However, the severity of accidents is already trending downward, Mr. Chairman. As a matter of fact, the large truck-involved fatal crash rate per 100 million miles has dropped 74 percent since 1980. Bus-involved fatal crash rate per 100 million miles has dropped 71 percent since 1980 without the Federal Government's involvement in speed limiting device. It is not clear that the mandate would further reduce these crashes. According to the FMCSA reports, 74.1 percent of truck-involved fatal crashes occur on noninterstates with speed limits lower than the proposed levels. So they are going to put the speed limiter on, but it is not even going to apply where the accidents happen. These are significant concerns that this mandate may actually increase the number of accidents. Studies have consistently shown that a higher variance of vehicle speed increases accident risk. It is not good to have some vehicles going slow and some going really fast in the same place. Speed limiters create speed differentials among vehicles.…”