A rulemaking to set a new federal standard that would require stability control systems on trucks and buses moved a step closer to completion last week.
The White Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which received the final rule in February, completed its review May 21 and returned the rule to the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the latest OMB regulatory update.
The rule, titled Electronic Stability Control Systems for Heavy Vehicles, is in response to a requirement in MAP-21, the current highway authorization package.
Rollover and loss of control crashes involving heavy vehicles are responsible for 304 fatalities and 2,738 injuries annually, according to the rule summary. NHTSA’s preliminary effectiveness estimate determined 29 to 66 lives would be saved, 517 to 979 injuries would be reduced, and 810 to 1,693 crashes that involved property damage only would be eliminated by requiring ESC systems on heavy trucks.
Based on the technology unit costs and affected vehicles, NHTSA estimates technology costs would be $55-107 million, annually. However, the costs savings from reducing travel delay and property damage would produce net benefits of $128-372 million.
DOT’s most recent projection has the rule scheduled to be published June 8, but that was based on a date of June 4 for OMB clearance. The rulemaking was initiated in 2011.
