Closing The Gap: Legislatures Urged to Address Truck Platooning Laws
Heavy Duty Trucking cites Senior Fellow Marc Scribner’s fourth annual report on state barriers to vehicle platooning.
Despite some OEMs backing away, truck platooning appears to remain on track as an autonomous truck technology with considerable potential for boosting fleet fuel economy, safety and productivity. But these gains can only happen if states update old laws against following too closely, according to a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“Exempting platooning vehicles from tailgating laws is a no-brainer, and that’s why nearly two dozen states already made reforms over the last four years that permit commercial platooning deployments. The votes in favor of these laws were bipartisan and many were unanimous. The economic, safety, and environmental benefits of platooning should prompt other states to update their laws,” said Marc Scribner, CEI senior fellow and author of Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning: A Guide for State Legislators, 2019 Edition. This handbook, now in its fourth annual edition, is widely used by policymakers and researchers as the go-to source for state platooning policies.