The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) says it actively supports Senate legislation recently proposed that would provide a tax credit to those who purchase trucks and buses with certain safety technologies installed.


Senate Bill 3428 was introduced just prior to the August recess by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio).

"This bill is the right thing to do. It is about encouraging investment in safety through the purchase and installation of technologies on trucks and buses that have been tested and proven to work," said Stephen F. Campbell, CVSA's Executive Director. "It will certainly help reduce heavy truck fatalities which have been hovering around 5000 per year for the last 10 years," Campbell said.

Specifically, the bill provides tax credits for four safety technologies identified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) in its recent Large Truck Crash Causation Study. The four identified technologies that would help reduce truck crashes and fatalities are: collision avoidance, lane departure warning, stability control, and brake stroke monitoring systems. The tax credit would be equal to 50 percent of the cost of a qualified system, up to $1500; allow a total credit of up to $3500 per vehicle; limit the qualifying taxpayer to a maximum credit to $350,000 per taxable year; and extend credit eligibility for the purchase of school busses, intercity buses and vehicles used in commerce.

The Senate Bill's approach also has received support from the FMSCA and National Transportation Safety Board. In testimony last year before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said the quickest way to promote widespread use of motor vehicle safety technologies was through the tax incentive approach. FMCSA Administrator John Hill in a variety of public comments has also been a proponent of tax incentives as an effective way to accelerate the widespread use of new safety technologies.

On Capitol Hill, Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) also signed on to the measure as an original co-sponsor. It is a companion bill to HR 3820 introduced in the House last October by Representative Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Ron Lewis (R-Ky.) There are now 16 co-sponsors of the House bill.

"Efforts to gain as much support as possible for this legislation are being made in order to ensure it becomes a high priority for consideration in next year's reauthorization bill," said Campbell.

CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization made up of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada and Mexico.