U.S Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he's worried about proposed legislation that would allow 84-foot-long trucks on highways. Schumer says the excessively long tandem trailer trucks are just too dangerous for the roads.
“That is the length of an eight story building laid flat and put on wheels,” Schumer said. “They’re much more difficult for other cars on the road to pass. A lot of the accidents occur, when a cars tries to pass, because of their length and the inability to see around them.”
Schumer said over the last five years, New York has seen 620 fatal crashes involving large trucks with 357 of those crashes happening in upstate New York alone.
Schumer, who is trying to stop the legislation, said it would force the state to allow these trucks on any federal roads, whether two lane or four lane. The legislation, called the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) Bill, should be coming to the floor in the next few weeks.
Currently New York State has a ban on these trucks but the legislation would supersede that.
“Democrats will be offering, and I’ll be wholeheartedly supporting, an amendment to strip out this dangerous amendment. We’re not just spinning our wheels here. If we can’t strip the amendment, we’ll fight the whole bill,” Schumer said.
