March 23, 2009

Governor Riley Signs Bill to Improve Safety of Hauling Steel Coils

BIRMINGHAM - Governor Bob Riley signed into law today a bill that improves highway safety when it comes to the hauling of steel coils in Alabama.

Since 1987, about 30 coils have come loose from transport trucks on Birmingham-area interstates. No deaths resulted from the accidents, but the cost of repairing the highways has been more than $7 million.

“When you think of the massive destructive force that’s unleashed when a 46,000 pound steel coil tears loose and starts rolling down the highway, it’s amazing no one was ever killed by one. We thank God for that,” Governor Riley said during a ceremony where he signed the bill into law at the U.S. Steel plant in Birmingham.

The new law requires motor carriers involved in transporting steel coils to use truck drivers trained and certified in properly securing these coils. The Alabama Department of Public Safety is charged with setting the training standards. A company that uses an uncertified driver would face a fine of $5,000 to $10,000. The uncertified driver would also face of fine of $250 to $1,000, and as much as a year in jail.

The new law also levies a fine of $5,000 to $10,000 against a person or company if a steel coil falls from a truck they owned or leased and if the coil had been loaded in a way that violates federal safety regulations.

The sponsors of the new law - Senator Jabo Waggoner and Representative Paul DeMarco - have been trying to get it passed by the Legislature for four years.

Governor Riley said the new law is the latest effort being taken to make Alabama highways safer. Others he mentioned on Monday include the addition of barriers on the medians of interstates, stepped up safety enforcement and truck inspections by state troopers, and the widening of two-laned rural roads.

As a result of these and other efforts, 2008 saw the lowest number of fatalities on Alabama highways in 23 years, Governor Riley said.