KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Proposed changes to the hours-of-service regulations would cause increased pollution, road rage and divorces but fail to accomplish the stated goal of improving highway safety, according to testimony at a June 15 hearing.
Trucking company executives joined drivers in denouncing the Department of Transportation’s plan to update the 61-year-old regulations at the fourth public hearing held to gather public input on the controversial proposal.
More than 200 people crowded the Wagstaff Theatre during the initial hours of the two-day hearing. About 70 people attended each of the previous hearings in Washington, D.C.; Ontario, Calif.; and Golden, Colo., said Stanley Hamilton, a spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Numerous witnesses said the proposal would not achieve its stated goal of improving highway safety. DOT predicts the reforms, which were unveiled April 25, would prevent 2,600 truck-related crashes, 115 fatalities and 2,995 injuries annually.
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