ATA Wants to Ease Restrictions On Vehicle Safety Spending

LEXANDRIA, Va. — American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves, speaking at the National Safety Council’s Truck and Bus Safety and Security Symposium here, called on the government to loosen restrictions on how commercial vehicle enforcement grant money can be spent. He also urged states to implement primary seat-belt laws.

Graves told the conference he would encourage Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to lift a cap on Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program grant funds used for “non-truck traffic enforcement.”

The recently adopted federal highway funding act prevents states from spending more than 5% of their MCSAP funds for non-commercial enforcement activities, but allows the secretary to lift that cap if it is determined “that a higher percentage will result in significant increases in truck and commercial motor vehicle safety.”