New Bill Aims to Protect Truckers Against Staged Crashes

The safety of truckers is becoming a major issue in the US, but new legislation such as the Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2021 aims to protect them against staged crashes. Specifically, the bill protects trucking companies from being financially burdened due to a claim from a staged accident. However, everyone needs to have a clearer idea of what this bill is and how it can protect truckers. Therefore, in this article we are going to review the bill in detail. Let’s begin.

The Importance of the Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2021

Henry Cuellar and Garret Graves introduced the bill to improve civilian and trucker safety out on the highways. Often times, truckers are targeted in staged crashes. Trucking companies and insurers are experiencing financial issues due to the claims process and lawsuits.

The bill aims to cover all the loopholes that crash stagers may try to exploit for fraudulent insurance claims. This bill is important because the highways are a significant part of the supply chain and taking the truckers off the highways isn’t a practical solution to the problem. Goods flowing across the US require these truckers to move through their respective routes. Therefore it’s essential to ensure their safety.

Both Congressmen further claim that the bill will help prevent the cost of truck insurance and doing business from going up. There are several cases where these companies have had to pay large settlement amounts, which cause their insurance rates to go up significantly.

What’s in the Bill?

The following are some of the most important features of this bill:

The bill ensures prompt recoveries for victims involved in legit accidents.
Helps aid and maintain interstate commerce.
Helps protect the general public from safety hazards and staged accidents.
Protects trucking and insurance companies from undue financial pressure resulting from staged accidents.
Protects law enforcement agencies who use their resources for dealing with staged accidents.

What makes this bill more special is that the American Trucking Association endorses this bill and supports it. We expect the Highway Accident Fairness Act to make the much-needed changes to help safeguard victims, civilians, truckers, insurance companies, and law enforcement agencies against unfair financial burdens from staged accidents.