A look at transportation safety rules sidelined under Trump
President Donald Trump says his administration has ended more unnecessary regulations than any previous administration. In response to his orders, the Transportation Department has withdrawn, repealed, delayed or put on the back burner at least a dozen significant safety rules, according to an Associated Press review of the department's regulatory actions over the past year.
A look at some of those regulations:
AUTOMOBILES
—A 2016 proposed rule to require new cars and light trucks be able to communicate wirelessly with each other to avoid collisions, one of the most promising technologies for reducing traffic fatalities, is languishing. The White House has moved the proposal from its list of active rulemakings to its long-term agenda, which means no action is expected before the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, if at all. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said it is still reviewing public comments on the proposal and no final decision has been made.
—A rule adopted in 2016 in response to a congressional directive requires that new hybrid and electric vehicles emit sounds when traveling at low speeds to alert pedestrians and cyclists to their approach. The government estimates the rule would prevent 2,800 injuries over the life of each model year of the vehicles.
Ten days after Trump took office, two auto industry trade associations petitioned DOT for an extra year to comply with the rule. The deadline for full compliance with the rule was Sept. 1, 2019, but in a notice posted online over the weekend DOT said is granting the request for an extra year, among several other changes sought by automakers. The new compliance date is Sept. 1, 2020.
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FILE - In a Dec. 1, 2013, file photo, an Amtrak train, top, traveling on an unaffected track, passes a derailed Metro North commuter train, in the Bronx borough of New York. President Donald Trump is putting the brakes on attempts to address dangerous transportation safety problems from speeding tractor-trailers to sleepy railroad engineers as part of his quest to roll back regulations across the government. Mark Lennihan, File AP Photo