II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2033 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate standards and 

regulations requiring all new commercial motor vehicles to be equipped 

with technology to limit maximum operating speed, to require existing 

speed-limiting technologies already installed in certain commercial motor 

vehicles to be used while in operation, and to require that the maximum 

safe operating speed of commercial motor vehicles shall not exceed 65 

miles per hour. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate 

standards and regulations requiring all new commercial 

motor vehicles to be equipped with technology to limit 

maximum operating speed, to require existing speed-limiting technologies already installed in certain commercial 

motor vehicles to be used while in operation, and to 

require that the maximum safe operating speed of commercial motor vehicles shall not exceed 65 miles per 

hour. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cullum Owings Large 

3 Truck Safe Operating Speed Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD AND 

5 FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULA6 TION FOR SPEED-LIMITING TECHNOLOGIES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) according to the Federal Motor Carrier 

9 Safety Administration, during the period beginning 

10 on January 1, 2004, and ending on December 31, 

11 2013, 10,440 people were killed in motor vehicle 

12 crashes in which the speed of a commercial motor 

13 vehicle likely contributed to severity; 

14 (2) a 2007 survey of truck drivers by the Insur15 ance Institute for Highway Safety determined that 

16 64 percent of the drivers were in favor of a speed17 limiting requirement; 

18 (3) according to a 2012 study commissioned by 

19 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, trucks 

20 not using a speed-limiting technology had a speed 

21 limit-relevant crash rate almost 2 times higher than 

22 the rate of trucks using a speed-limiting technology; 

23 (4) speed-limiting devices have been required to 

24 be installed and used on commercial motor vehicles 

25 throughout the world, including in— 


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1 (A) Australia, which has required the use 

2 of those devices since 1990; 

3 (B) the United Kingdom, which has re4 quired the use of those devices since 1992; and 

5 (C) the European Union, which has re6 quired the use of those devices since 1994; and 

7 (5) the Department of Transportation has been 

8 examining the issues involving speed-limiting tech9 nologies since at least 2006. 

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

12 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a motor vehicle 

13 used in commerce that has a gross vehicle weight 

14 rating or a gross vehicle weight of not less than 

15 26,001 pounds. 

16 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Transportation. 

18 (3) SPEED-LIMITING TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

19 ‘‘speed-limiting technology’’ means a technology that 

20 prevents a commercial motor vehicle from exceeding 

21 a preprogrammed maximum speed. 

22 (c) FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD

23 AND MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 (A) acting through the Administrator of 

5 the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis6 tration, issue a final rule that establishes a 

7 Federal motor vehicle safety standard that re8 quires that all commercial motor vehicles manu9 factured after the effective date of the standard 

10 shall be equipped with a speed-limiting tech11 nology; and 

12 (B) acting through the Administrator of 

13 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra14 tion, issue a final rule that establishes a Fed15 eral motor carrier safety regulation that re16 quires that any existing speed-limiting tech17 nology already installed in a commercial motor 

18 vehicle shall be used at any time during which 

19 the commercial motor vehicle is in operation, in 

20 accordance with paragraph (2). 

21 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In issuing a final rule 

22 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

23 (A) include requirements to ensure that 

24 each speed-limiting technology— 


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1 (i) accurately measures the speed of 

2 the applicable commercial motor vehicle; 

3 and 

4 (ii) maintains a maximum speed of 

5 not faster than 65 miles per hour to en6 sure the safety of commercial motor vehicle 

7 drivers and the public, regardless of wheth8 er the speed-limiting technology was in9 stalled in the commercial motor vehicle— 

10 (I) prior to the effective date of 

11 the standard or regulation; or 

12 (II) for purposes of achieving 

13 compliance with the standard under 

14 paragraph (1)(A); and 

15 (B) as necessary, amend any Federal 

16 motor vehicle safety standards or Federal motor 

17 carrier safety regulations to require that all 

18 commercial motor vehicles shall travel at a 

19 speed of not faster than 65 miles per hour. 

20 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, each com23 mercial motor vehicle that is subject to the standard 

24 established under subsection (c)(1)(A) shall ensure 

25 that a speed-limiting technology establishes and 


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1 maintains for the commercial motor vehicle a max2 imum safe speed of not faster than 65 miles per 

3 hour. 

4 (2) VERIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH RE5 QUIREMENTS.—The owner of each commercial motor 

6 vehicle subject to a requirement under this section 

7 shall verify, and submit to the Secretary a certifi8 cation of, compliance with the requirement at such 

9 time and in such manner as the Secretary may es10 tablish, by regulation. 

Æ 


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