Flashing Rear Warning Lights for Trucks Get Fresh Federal Review
Equipment · Oct 19 · By Truker
Federal regulators are reopening public input on a request by Grote Industries to let carriers run trucks with extra rear warning lights that flash, despite rules requiring exterior lamps to stay lit continuously. After the first comment round, the company gave agency staff more detail about how its radar-based rear-collision alert works, and that material has now been posted for the public to review and respond to.
The points
- 1Grote is asking for relief from the rule that exterior lights on commercial trucks must burn steadily rather than flash.
- 2An approval would let carriers operate vehicles fitted with extra warning lamps run by Grote's Rear-End Collision Warning system.
- 3The newly shared details cover lamp color, the order in which the lamps activate, and how the system's radar sensing functions.
- 4Additional information addresses how the system interacts with brake-triggered warning lights and how it works on combination vehicles.
- 5FMCSA has put the added material in the docket and is taking another round of public comments.
Why it matters
The outcome could determine whether trucks may legally use radar-triggered flashing rear lamps, which are currently barred by the steady-burning lighting requirement.
What we read
Federal Register FMCSA