A French lawmaker has called for a requirement that drivers of consumer trucks and SUVs acquire a special license, in light of how large and dangerous the vehicles have become in recent years.
https://www.thelocal.fr/20230921/french-mep-calls-for-special-driving-licence-for-suvs
Is there any organized group in the United States (or, more broadly, North America) pushing for this type of arrangement?
Is there any organized group in the United States (or, more broadly, North America) pushing for this type of arrangement?
There is no organized group in the United States or more broadly in North America of any significance pushing for this type of arrangement.
I can't definitively rule out the possibility that some college club with six members, or other small, organized group of people, somewhere in North America is pushing for it. But any such group is not pushing strongly enough to make media headlines or attract the attention of even someone who plays close attention to the news.
There are certainly groups out there who are concerned about traffic deaths caused by large consumer market SUVs and trucks, but a special license is not a tool that those concerned about this problem have suggested. Instead, here are two suggestions that are being pressed by organized political movements in the U.S.:
Between May and August, America Walks supporters submitted over 2,700 comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in support of two proposals to make vehicles safer for pedestrians. Now the ball is in NHTSA’s court to take action, improve these rules, and finalize them as quickly as possible.
Here’s the scoop on both proposals and what’s next.
Dangerous vehicles shouldn’t get 5-star safety ratings
Pedestrian deaths on our roads are at a forty-year high in the United States and larger unsafe cars and trucks contribute significantly to this crisis. The number of pedestrians killed by pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, and minivans has more than doubled between 2010 and 2021.
In response, NHTSA asked for comments on how to rate cars based on safety for pedestrians through its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), the five-star safety rating program advertised to consumers.
But the agency’s proposal didn’t go nearly far enough. Under its proposal, a vehicle could receive a failing grade for pedestrian crashworthiness, but still earn an overall five-star safety rating, misrepresenting a vehicle as safe when it is not. In addition, the proposal failed to evaluate limited driver visibility, a known safety flaw for larger vehicles, and wouldn’t display pedestrian crashworthiness ratings at the point of sale, where most consumers would see them.
Such a program is sorely needed and long overdue, but it’s imperative to get it right.
That’s why we and our supporters told NHTSA that evaluations should be held to the highest standards and include driver visibility. We also called for the results from pedestrian crashworthiness evaluations to be incorporated directly in NCAP’s star rating system and that they’re visible to the consumer at the point of sale.
Finally, we also asked NHTSA to commit to including standards and technologies that protect people outside cars in an updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the standards that are mandatory in all vehicles.
Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking close to being required in cars
In 2022, thousands of Americans voiced their support for increased Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards during NHTSA’s Request for Comments on its safety rating system – the New Car Assessment Program.
A year later, NHTSA proposed a rule to require all new cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks to have Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB) three years after the rule was finalized. Significantly, this rule is close to the finish line, with only two steps remaining before it is final.
PAEB detects pedestrians and applies the brakes before hitting someone. This technology isn’t new. It’s been around for years and government vehicle safety programs across the globe already include PAEB.
America Walks has long called for mature safety technologies like PAEB to be incorporated directly into the required FMVSS that apply to all new vehicles. We applaud NHTSA for taking this action and ask the agency to hold automakers to the highest possible standards of PAEB. The technology deployed should be able to detect everyone on the road outside of a vehicle, including children, people with dark skin tones, and people using bikes and mobility devices.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the chief regulator of vehicle safety in the United States and its agenda also does not include special licenses for large consumer truck drivers.
There are occasional grumblings that vehicles that can be driven non-commercially without a commercial driver's license (CDL) require a CDL to drive commercially. But, for those most part, the folks concerned about this fact want to reduce the scope of vehicles for which a CDL is required, rather than require a special license for driver's of large consumer vehicles that don't require a CDL.
Driver's licensing in the USA is largely a state responsibility. That being said, there are special licenses states give out for drivers of very large trucks and commercial passenger vehicles: The commercial drivers license.
Here in Oklahoma, here are the 4 classes of driver's licensespdf:
Class A: Any combination of vehicles with a combined weight rating of 26,001 or more pounds provided the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle or vehicles being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
Class B: Any single vehicle with a gross weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, or any such vehicle towing not in excess of 10,000 pounds GVWR, shall include a bus with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds and designed to transport sixteen or more persons, including the driver.
Class C: Any single vehicle with a GVWR of less than 26,001 pounds or any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of GVWR or 10,000 pounds GVWR, which is:
- Required to be placed for hazardous material. ~OR~
- Designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
Class D: All other vehicles regardless of weight, except A, B or C.
There are also several endorsements that may be required for types of vehicles deemed particularly hazardous, such as transporting multiple trailers, hazardous materials, or school busses. Also drivers may be restricted from certain types of vehicles or driving that their license might otherwise allow.
So yes, for certain (American adjusted) levels of "large" vehicles, we require special driver's licenses.
Americans love their trucks. In the U.S. it would be easier to organize against passenger cars than trucks.
Trucks have outsold cars in the United States for more than two decades.
trucks have outsold cars in the U.S. since 2002
U.S. car and truck retail sales from 2011 to 2021
In 2021, some 3.3 million automobiles sold in the US, compared to about 11.6 million light trucks, and some 451,400 heavy-duty trucks.
The real reason trucks have taken over U.S. roadways
Trucks dominate U.S. roadways, outnumbering cars among registered vehicles in all 50 states.
