Virginia governor vetoes winter weather truck restrictions
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed a bill to place limitations, among other things on truck left lane travel, during winter storms.
The bill, SB706, was introduced following a January winter storm that resulted in jammed traffic that left some travelers on Interstate 95 in Virginia stranded for more than 24 hours.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, said a crash involving multiple large trucks played a role in the backup outside Washington, D.C. As a result, Marsden pursued a plan to keep trucks to the right when the weather turns bad.
The Senate-approved version called for truck drivers traveling “in certain weather conditions” to stay out of the left lane on any highway with two or more lanes in each direction. The rule would apply to trucks with a gross weight rating in excess of 26,000 pounds.
Truck drivers would have been forbidden from using cruise control or compression engine brakes when driving in winter weather. Additionally, police would have been prohibited from stopping trucks during winter weather to enforce the proposed rule covering use of engine brakes or cruise control.
A House revision removed the lane restriction language. All that remained in the bill sent to the governor were provisions addressing use of cruise control or compression engine brakes.
Burdens for trucking industry
Youngkin wrote in his veto explanation that the bill “is intended to prevent a traffic crisis such as the one that occurred on Interstate 95 on Jan. 3, when semitrailer trucks were immobilized by icy conditions, which prevented first responders from rescuing stranded motorists.
“However, the provisions of this bill would not prevent a similar incident from occurring.”
He noted that a state-sponsored report found that neither cruise control nor compression release brakes were found to have contributed to the traffic jam.
“Additionally, this bill excludes enforcement mechanisms to support its provisions, except for a secondary offense only provable by after-incident data. Consequently, this bill would impose burdens on Virginia’s trucking industry, as well as interstate transportation, without any demonstrable public safety or transportation benefit.” LL