Company Seeks Permission to Keep Making Trucks Extra Flashy
Published Date: 1/17/2025
Notice
Summary
Grote Industries wants to keep using their special flashing amber brake lights on trucks and trailers for another five years. This helps drivers see when trucks are braking, making roads safer for everyone. If you have thoughts, you’ve got until February 18, 2025, to share them—no cost changes, just safer rides!
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Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Five‑Year Exemption Renewal Requested
Grote Industries asked FMCSA to renew a five-year exemption that lets motor carriers install amber, brake-activated pulsating warning lamps on the rear of trailers and van body trucks in addition to the steady-burning brake lamps. The current exemption runs from December 7, 2020 through December 2, 2025, and Grote requests another five-year renewal.
Fleets Report Large Crash Reductions
Grote reports that its pulsating brake lamp has been installed on over 80,000 vehicles and driven over 250,000,000 miles, and that a large national fleet saw a 33% reduction in overall rear-end crashes per-mile and a 75% reduction in injury-involving crashes after installation. Another fleet reported a 52% reduction in recordable incidents per vehicle and a 75% reduction in incident severity.
Exemption Can Be Rescinded for Noncompliance
FMCSA will rescind the exemption if motor carriers fail to comply with its terms and conditions, if the exemption results in a lower level of safety than before, or if continuation would be inconsistent with statutory goals. That means carriers using the lamps must follow the exemption conditions to keep the authorization in effect.
How The Pulsating Brake Lamps Work
The permitted Grote lamps are amber and pulsate as a Class II strobe for up to 4 seconds when the brake is applied, then transition to a steady red for the duration of brake activation. These lamps would be installed in specified upper or lower rear positions in addition to the steady-burning red brake lamps required by regulation.
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