FMCSA final rule expands area where safety tech can be mounted on truck, bus windshields

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is increasing the area safety technology may be mounted inside commercial motor vehicles and expanding the definition of “vehicle safety technology.”

According to a final rule published in the March 7 Federal Register and set to go into effect May 6, the rulemaking was promulgated in response to a petition from Daimler Trucks North America.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations previously mandated that vehicle safety devices be mounted no more than 4 inches “below the upper edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers.” FMCSA is changing that parameter to 8.5 inches.

The devices must still remain outside the driver’s line of sight to the road and highway signs/signals. The regulation that states the devices may not be mounted more than 7 inches “above the lower edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers” will remain unchanged.

In addition, the final rule amends another regulation to add “technologies that had been granted temporary exemptions.”

The expanded definition of “vehicle safety technology” will include braking warning/assist systems, automatic emergency braking, driver camera systems and attention assist warning, as well as GPS and other devices. Those include systems and devices that use lidar, radar, sensors and/or video.