Arizona To Standardize Truck Restriction Highway Signs
Arizona governor Katie Hobbs recently approved Senate Bill 1098, which has resulted in the enactment of a new truck route uniform signage law. The Bill was introduced by Senator Frank Carroll on January 19th during the 2023 regular session of the State Legislature. The Bill was also sponsored by Senators David Cook, Janae Shamp, Justin Wilmeth, David Gowen, and David Livingston.
After a series of discussions, necessary amendments were introduced to the bill. The bill was placed before the governor on June 14th, and it received the Governor’s assent in just six days. The main question is – what changes with the implementation of this new law?
Let’s have a look:
The new law mandates that vehicle weight-restriction signs can be enforced on state highways only if they are designed by the state transportation department. The new law will be implemented from January 1st, 2024. The truck signage looked different in different areas, and the locations where they were placed weren’t standard either. This led to confusion among truck drivers, who often travel through different areas. The lack of standard signage made it difficult for truck drivers to know where exactly they were prohibited from driving.
The bill received tremendous backing from truck drivers, and Tony Bradley, President of the Arizona Trucking Association, voiced his support for the same. He said, “Truck drivers don’t carry the municipal code around in their trucks. They go where the GPS tells them to go. So this is simply a bill to say give us more signage, let us know where it’s restricted and how to get out so that we’re not on those roads.”
He further expressed his gratitude toward lawmakers and extended his deepest appreciation to Governor Hobbs for their commitment to protect not just the interests of the trucking industry but also Arizona’s taxpayers. He said that the approval of this bill came just around the time when House Bill 2288 was enacted. Bill 2288 established clear road rules and gives larger trucks more room to navigate in a roundabout. This newly enacted law is very helpful, especially for drivers with vehicles that are 10 feet wide or 40 feet long. It allows them to use more than one lane if required when driving through a roundabout.
The new legislation (via Bill 2288) also requires drivers to give the right of way to large trucks on roundabouts. It mandates the placement of signs at roundabouts giving large trucks the right of way. It also states that in case two trucks are approaching simultaneously, to avoid any traffic hazard, the right truck must yield to the truck on the left. Apart from Bill 2288, Governor Hobbs also approved SB 1097, which allows trucks to operate on major arterial roads throughout Arizona. Previously, trucks needed to stick to a restricted set of routes only, but the approval of the new bill removes all such restrictions on them.
The ATA further added, “The ability to travel from one city to the next on major arterial roads is vital to the safe and efficient movement of goods and services,” the association stated. “If a truck of legal size can safely operate on a road, it should not be unreasonably restricted to through traffic.”
The number of accidents caused due to trucks at roundabouts is expected to reduce drastically with the implementation of the new law. The new law also puts the onus of implementation on local and state jurisdictions, stating that any state or local jurisdiction that fails to erect or maintain signage that meets the law’s requirements for trucking restrictions after the start of next year will be considered unenforceable. All these new enactments have contributed to not just the safety and ease of truck drivers but also ensure the safety of other drivers and vehicles on the roads.
In case of accidents caused by trucks, however, it is best to reach out to a Long Island personal injury lawyer for legal advice and assistance to secure compensation.
