Changing to driving policies and legislation regarding licenses, speeding penalties, and the laws of the road are constantly in flux. This is due to the fact that the nature of the roads are constantly changing thanks to increasingly advanced vehicle technology, the implementation of automation assistance, and changes to internal traffic patters within specific locations. Recently, the US Department of Transport (USDOT) has announced a largescale driving audit for this one group.
Massive changes to driving legislation and policies
Changes to driving legislation and policies are far from uncommon. Nationwide, states have been introducing harsher penalties for drivers who are caught breaking the law in order to preserve the safety of all road user on the road, but new legislation is also being introduced regarding the use of advanced technology on the road. These legislative policies range from the use of automated camera technology to assist law enforcement to the digitalization of licenses.
Changes to licenses have particularly been making headlines as of late, thanks to this year seeing the implementation of the deadline for your license to become REAL ID certified. While legislation requiring all identity documentation to be REAL ID certified was first announced in 2005, it was only this year that the federal government enforced a deadline for citizens to ensure their documentation is REAL ID ready, nearly a decade after it was first announced.
Other license changes include states allowing their residents to carry digital licenses. Following this, Georgia recently passed new legislation which will permit Georgia residents to present a digital or mobile license. However, residents are still required to carry a physical copy of their license on them while law enforcement officers scale up their resources to ensure that all law enforcement officials have the technology to read these digital licenses. However, come July 1 2027, Georgia law will permit you to drive solely with a digital license.
New license audit for this one group
Recently, in June of this year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that USDOT intends to begin a largescale nationwide audit regarding state practices of issuing non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). The intention of the audit targets reviewing the potential for states to reward unqualified individuals licenses.
“The open borders policies of the last administration allowed millions to flood our country – leading to serious allegations that the trucking licensing system is being exploited. Today, we are launching a nationwide audit to get to the bottom of this,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Our audit is about protecting the safety of families on the road and upholding the integrity of CDLs held by America’s truckers. Every state must follow federal regulations, and ensure only qualified, properly documented drivers are getting behind the wheel of a truck.”
Since the announcement, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been underway with conducting a nationwide compliance review of states issuing non-domiciled CDLs.
New driving practice changes for this state
While The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration continues to investigate the legality of driving licenses on the road from a nationwide level, at a state level, individual governments are achieving their own local wins for the safety of road users in their state.
Recently, New York City passed ‘Sammy’s Law’ after over a decade of lobbying for activists to allow city officials to change the urban speed limits in the city instead of having to follow rules set out by state authorities. Named after Sammy Cohen, a twelve-year-old boy who was killed by a speeding driver, the new legislation will see the speed limit be lowered from 25mph to 20mph within specific areas in the city, with some speed limits set to be changed to as low as 10mph to protect vulnerable road users.
