Letter to the Editor
Law enforcement leaders from Florida and across the country will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to tell Congress they don’t want motorists in their towns to be forced to share the roads with bigger, more dangerous trucks. They are waging a battle against special interests who are pushing federal legislation that would test heavier semi-trucks on our nation’s roads, endangering unsuspecting motorists.
One of the leaders is Art Bodenheimer, the Chief of Police of Lake Alfred, Florida, who also serves as the chairman of the Florida Association of Chiefs of Police Highway Safety Committee. Chief Bodenheimer has been in law enforcement for over 35 years and has been the Chief of Police in Lake Alfred since September 2004. Throughout his career, he has participated in patrolling roads and the investigation of serious and fatal crashes.
“In my experience analyzing fatal crashes, bigger trucks would be a disaster for public safety,” said Bodenheimer. “It’s simple physics. More weight means more force, turning what could have been a fender bender into a fatal crash”.
H.R. 3372, which was approved by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in May by a slim margin, would dramatically expand the operation of 91,000-pound trucks nationwide. The bill creates a “pilot project,” allowing states to authorize operation of these dangerous heavier trucks on roadways for up to 10 years – turning interstates into test tracks and motorists into guinea pigs.
Just as concerning is the Modernizing Operations for Vehicles in Emergencies Act (MOVE Act). H.R. 7496, which was introduced this month, would fundamentally change who can raise weights on interstate highways. Under current law, interstate weight limits can only be increased as part of a Presidentially declared emergency, which happened during the COVID pandemic in 2020. This bill would give any governor the authority to raise the interstate weight limit in their state during an emergency or “unusual conditions”, including when the “supply chain function is substantially impaired.” This vague and subjective criterion is just an attempt by proponents of bigger trucks to raise weight limits with virtually no oversight.
“These two bills are bad news for motorist safety, and they are bad news for law enforcement as well.” Bodenheimer continued. “With explosive population growth and even more tourists on our roads in Central Florida, having Congress add more dangerous, heavier trucks to our roads would be a step in the wrong direction.”
Key Facts:
- According to the most recent available data, there were 9,038 large truck crashes in 2021 in Florida, resulting in 8,709 injuries and 378 fatalities. This represents a 9.5% increase in fatalities compared to the previous year.
- The 2016 USDOT study found that heavier trucks were 47-400% more likely to be involved in a crash compared to standard 80,000-pound trucks.
- The study also found higher rollover rates, higher brake violation rates and higher out of service violation rates. A 2016 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that any truck with an out-of-service violation is 362% more likely to be involved in a crash.
“With US 17 running straight through Lake Alfred and many residents using traffic-heavy Interstate 4 for their commutes, we see our fair share of semi-trucks. Raising the weight of the thousands of trucks passing through our region every day would have an immediate impact on public safety. I don’t want the citizens of my city to be test subjects for these dangerous, heavier trucks.” Bodenheimer concluded. The number of crashes involving large commercial trucks has increased every year in Polk County since 2020, according to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Chief Bodenheimer joins like-minded law enforcement and public safety officials from other states in making the trip to Washington at the invitation of the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT), a nonprofit grassroots organization opposed to legislation that would make trucks longer or heavier.