US Politics
Scrapped safety proposal for semi-trucks means they can zoom down US highways at top speed
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The U.S. Department of Transportation has scrapped a proposed federal mandate ordering speed-limiting devices on heavy-duty trucks be kept below 70mph, allowing them to continue racing along the nation’s highways at top speed.
Software in the devices in question, also known as governors, places a limit on the maximum speed at which large trucks can travel by preventing their engines from running any faster than a preset number of revolutions per minute.
This typically means they cannot go faster than a set speed in the interest of safety and improved fuel efficiency.
But the proposed rule change enforcing their use is now being dropped as part of a new DOT package intended to ease conditions for long-haul truckers.
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It also includes a $275m investment in expanding truck parking spaces and simplifying the wording of federal regulations.
“Mandating speed limiters on heavy-duty trucks isn’t just an inconvenience – it is a safety hazard when drivers are forced to go slower than the flow of traffic,” the DOT said in a statement announcing the package.
“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [FMCSA] and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are withdrawing a joint rulemaking that proposed to require speed-limiting devices on heavy vehicles.
“This decision respects the professionalism of drivers and acknowledges the proposed rulemaking lacked a sufficiently clear and compelling safety justification.”
Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “Truckers keep America running. While the country sleeps, truckers grind through the night to help keep shelves stocked, families fed, and businesses humming.
“It’s a job that requires grit and dedication. But for too long Washington, D.C., has made work harder for truckers. That ends today. Thanks to President Trump, we’re getting Washington out of your trucks and your business.”
Duffy’s release explaining the package is headlined “America First, Safety First” and represents a move to entrust drivers with more responsibility and reduce government overreach.
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However, it could be argued that dropping speed-limiting protocols increases the likelihood of road accidents by removing a barrier to faster driving and allowing for a greater degree of risk on the highways.
According to FMCSA statistics for the last five years, the U.S. recorded 143,000 truck accidents in 2020 (a low figure due to the Covid-19 pandemic restricting movement), rising to 166,000 in 2021.
The total fell slightly to 165,000 in 2022 and was at 155,000 in 2023 and 151,000 in 2024. For the year to May 1 2025, there have been 39,000.
Of the total 819,000 accidents between 2020 and this spring, just six percent involved a fatality.
Duffy’s announcement follows Trump’s executive order in late April stipulating that English should be the official language of American trucking, calling it “a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers.”
The order said it was “common sense” that drivers “should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers.”
It instructed the DOT to introduce new testing and enforcement to ensure that drivers can speak English “sufficiently to converse with the general public.”
This article was amended on Tuesday July 8 to clarify the precise nature of the regulatory changes being introduced.
