New Rule Calls for Reflectors on Big Rigs

After years of study and debate, the government moved Friday to require that tractor-trailer trucks carry reflectors that outline the bottom edge of their trailers.

The Federal Highway Administration said the change should reduce the chance that a vehicle will smash into or drive under a trailer. The agency estimated the change will save more than 100 lives and prevent 1,700 injuries in the next decade.

Since Jan. 1, 1993, the government has required that the bottom edge on all new trailers be rimmed in red-and-white reflective tape.

Once the new rule is effective in two months, truckers using trailers made prior to 1993 will have two years to install the reflective tape. Truckers who have outlined their rigs with different tape must switch to the new color scheme within 10 years.

The order marked the first time the Federal Highway Administration has required trucking companies to retrofit older vehicles to meet a new-vehicle standard.

The change was welcome news to Beth Hall, of Allentown, Pa. Her father died in 1993 when a tractor-trailer jackknifed and blocked all lanes on a Pennsylvania highway. Driving at night, Carl Hall apparently spotted the lights on the cab and swerved left to avoid it.

Instead, he smashed under the darkened trailer he could not see and died instantly.

Hall began a campaign to put reflective tape on truck trailers manufactured before the 1993 rule change. She estimated the cost per truck at $50.

On Friday, members of the Hall family were on Capitol Hill with Rep. James Greenwood (R-Pa.) to announce the new rule.