The new braking standards require that stopping distances be reduced by 30 percent. NHTSA predicts that the new rules will reduce truck accidents and save 227 lives each year. The new rules are estimated to decrease property damage costs by over $169 million each year plus prevent 300 serious injuries.

The new rules require that a tractor-trailer moving at 60 miles per hour be able to come to a complete stop in 250 feet … down from 355 feet according to the old standard.

The new big rig truck regulations will take 4 years to be phased in, starting with 2012 models.

The new regulations should also accelerate the introduction of the newest braking technology into America’s commercial freight trucking fleets and will assist truck drivers in avoiding collisions with other vehicles on the road.

The new rules apply only to truck tractors. The ruling does not include single-unit trucks, trailers and buses.

The latest statistics from NHTSA are optimistic. They show that large commercial vehicles are involved less and less in fatal crashes. The number of people that were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2008 was 4,229. That number is down 12 percent from 2007, where 4,822 deaths occured.

According to the press release on the new braking standards at the NHTSA website, secretary Raymond LaHood, of the US Department of Transportation (DOT) said, “Safety is our highest priority … Motorists deserve to know they are sharing the road with large trucks that are up to the safest possible standards, so they can get home alive to their families.”

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