June 4, 2015

Today, 247 Members of the House of Representatives turned their backs on hundreds of thousands who are seriously injured or killed in crashes every year. The defeat of Rep. Matt Cartwright’s (D-PA) amendment to ensure rulemaking to review minimum insurance coverage for trucks was allowed to proceed, will allow some trucking companies to continue to be underinsured and unable to properly compensate victims for lifelong, serious debilitating injuries or the death of a loved one.

This provision along with the other assaults on truck safety laws clearly shows that the priority of the House is corporate profit before public safety.

We are calling on the Senate to ensure they do not allow any anti-truck safety measures to make it into the Appropriations bill, including any provisions to defund rulemaking review for minimum insurance. When someone survives a truck crash they deserve a fair settlement. They should not have to fear going bankrupt trying to pay medical bills because the truck that hit them did not have enough insurance.

“Minimum insurance was introduced at $750,000 35 years ago and has not been increased since. All we are asking for is to let rulemaking continue to allow for the collection of data and the subsequent analysis to determine what level would be appropriate,” said Dawn King, Davisburg, MI, Truck Safety Coalition volunteer.