U.S. Legislative Issues

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On December 16, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Mark Rosekind to be the next administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). President Obama nominated Rosekind, who is currently a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), to the post in November. Rosekind has served on the NTSB since 2010, and he brings an expertise in human fatigue research and has published more than 150 scientific, technical, and industry papers.

Rosekind will take control of the agency at a time when it faces harsh criticism from members of Congress for what has been perceived as a slow response to the GM ignition switch recall. He successfully fielded many tough questions about GM as well as the Takata airbag recall during his confirmation hearing on December 9.



Data released in a December report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed a decrease in highway crash fatalities involving all types of vehicles by 3.1 percent from 2012 to 2013, but an increase in the number of fatalities from crashes with large trucks by 0.5 percent. The number of fatalities involving all types of vehicles fell to 32,719 in 2013 while the number of fatalities from a crash involving large trucks ticked up slightly to 3,964.

The NHTSA report can be found here (PDF).



After Congress passed a bill to temporarily roll back Hours of Service Regulations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has updated its website to reflect the rollback of the Hours of Service Regulations. The bill eliminates a requirement that truck drivers take breaks between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on consecutive nights before they can work again. The measure also removes a limit on the number of times they can declare the start of a new workday. With these changes, truckers are able to work as many as 82 hours a week.

The FMCSA notice can be found here.
 

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