Is there an update on the heavy truck anti-rollover system?  It can indeed be a slow and sometimes cumbersome process for federal agencies to promulgate rules — whether relating to workplace or transportation safety, the environment, taxation or myriad other matters — envisioned as ultimately becoming legal enactments.

We informed readers previously of the “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pursuant to which the agency cast a strong focus on commercial truck accidents and recommended a solution for reducing both their numbers and severity.

Specifically, the NHTSA recommends that every commercial vehicle in the country weighing more than 26,000 pounds be equipped with an electronic stability control (ESC) system that regulators say will help prevent truck crashes. Safety officials believe that an ESC system — with technology that automatically controls and applies brakes as needed to enhance vehicle stability — will be especially helpful in minimizing 18-wheeler accidents and tractor trailer crashes caused by rollovers.  The agency recently proposed a requirement that all V2V devices must “speak the same language” through a standard technology. The agency is also proposing that privacy and security measures are employed in any V2V device.  V2V is a crash avoidance technology that incorporates communication with nearby trucks and other commercial vehicles to warn drivers about potentially dangerous situations that could lead to accidents resulting in serious injury or a wrongful death.

Full implementation takes time, though, and public input. In fact, a public hearing required as a prerequisite for final rule enactment is taking place today at the Department of Transportation building.

Today’s forum is intended to solicit oral testimony and reaction to the suggested mandate. Following the hearing, and provided the rule becomes final, the overall process could take an additional year.

Regulators want to move purposefully and with resolution regarding a heavy truck anti-rollover system and other safety precautions. They say that ESC implementation for all heavy commercial vehicles will prevent approximately 56 percent of all rollover accidents.