U.S. Senator Charles Schumer is calling on the federal government to change the regulations for GPS systems used in trucks and buses. He believes truckers using systems meant for cars is the reason that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of trucks ramming into low bridges in New York state in recent years.
"In the old days the truckers would have stopped and asked. Now they just go on their GPS and they think it's okay. But the GPS is the GPS that we use in our cars. So whether you are a five-foot-high Ford Taurus, or a 12-foot-high tractor trailer, it doesn't tell you any differences about the overpasses," the senator said.
Schumer wants the federal government to require nationwide standards for GPS systems that would take into account the height of a vehicle when determining a route so they aren't sent on one with a low bridge.
"The federal DOT (Department of Transportation) should require a special GPS for trucks. You should just be able to punch in 'My truck is 12 feet high' and they say you can't use this highway."
Schumer wants a further investigation into the dozens of truck bridge accidents that mainly have happened in the metropolitan New York area, but also include the deadly Megabus crash two years ago on Onondaga Lake Parkway in Syracuse, that killed four people.
