P.M. BRIEFING : Truck Firms Join Safety Groups in Push Against Radar Detectors

The nation’s truck companies joined with safety groups today to push for a federal order to stop truckers from using radar detectors.

With new evidence that 37% to 52% of tractor-trailer trucks use the dashboard devices in some states, heads of eight national organizations signed a petition to the Federal Highway Administration.

Tom Donohue, president of the American Trucking Assns., which represents 4,500 truck companies, said his group backs police efforts to catch speeding truckers and opposes radar detectors.

“The only reason you’d want to have one in a truck is to drive faster than you ought to,” he said.

Only Connecticut, Virginia and the District of Columbia outlaw detectors in all vehicles, and New York has passed a law banning them in larger trucks. They are legal in all other states, with about 2 million sold each year.