A look at transportation safety rules sidelined under Trump

President Donald Trump says his administration has ended more unnecessary regulations than any previous administration. In response to his orders, the Transportation Department has withdrawn, repealed, delayed or put on the back burner at least a dozen significant safety rules, according to an Associated Press review of the department’s regulatory actions over the past year.

A look at some of those regulations:

AUTOMOBILES A 2016 proposed rule to require new cars and light trucks be able to communicate wirelessly with each other to avoid collisions, one of the most promising technologies for reducing traffic fatalities, is languishing. The White House has moved the proposal from its list of active rulemakings to its long-term agenda, which means no action is expected before the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, if at all. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said it is still reviewing public comments on the proposal and no final decision has been made.

—A rule adopted in 2016 in response to a congressional directive requires that new hybrid and electric vehicles emit sounds when traveling at low speeds to alert pedestrians and cyclists to their approach. The government estimates the rule would prevent 2,800 injuries over the life of each model year of the vehicles.

Ten days after Trump took office, two auto industry trade associations petitioned DOT for an extra year to comply with the rule. The deadline for full compliance with the rule was Sept. 1, 2019, but in a notice posted online over the weekend DOT said is granting the request for an extra year, among several other changes sought by automakers. The new compliance date is Sept. 1, 2020.

COMMERCIAL TRUCKS

AND BUSES The White House moved a 2016 proposal to require software in new heavy trucks be set to limit speeds from its list of active rulemakings to its long-term agenda. DOT studied maximum speeds of 60, 65 and 68 mph. About 1,100 people are killed annually in crashes involving heavy trucks on roads with speed limits exceeding 55 mph.

The American Trucking Associations, an industry trade group, has claimed credit for stalling the rule, saying it would create dangerous speed differences between cars and trucks. DOT says it has limited resources and higher priorities.

—DOT has withdrawn a rule it was in the early stages of writing to require that states annually inspect commercial buses and other passenger-carrying vehicles. Since 1990, there have been more than 220 commercial bus crashes and fires resulting in at least 484 deaths and 4,618 injuries, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which tracks crashes through media reports.

The Obama administration proposed the rule in response to a congressional directive. Twentytwo states already conduct annual inspections, but some states say they can’t afford an inspection program. The withdrawal notice said there isn’t enough data to support the need for inspections.

SLEEP APNEA —DOT has withdrawn an early-stage rule to require train engineers and commercial truck and bus drivers be screened for sleep apnea. The National Transportation Safety Board, which recommended the screening, has identified untreated sleep apnea as a cause of at least 13 accidents it has investigated, including three commuter rail crashes in New York and New Jersey since 2013 and a collision between a commercial bus and a tractor-trailer that killed 13 people and injured 31 others near Palm Springs, California, in 2016.

DOT said the problem is being addressed through current programs and through a proposed rule on fatigue risks in the railroad industry. The fatigue rule is years overdue. NTSB officials say DOT’S approach isn’t working because sleep apnea-related crashes continue to occur.