Federal law currently only requires commercial trucking companies to carry
$750,000 in liability insurance. New legislation submitted by U.S. House
Reps. Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois and Matt Cartwright
of Pennsylvania would change that.
The two Democrats have introduced the INSURANCE act, a measure that would
increase the insurance minimums to be updated with inflation. The new
bill would set the insurance minimum at $4.9 million per accident.
The mandatory minimum coverage of $750,000 hasn’t changed since 1980
when the Motor Carrier Act passed.
Metier said that while medical costs have skyrocketed since 1980, the price
of liability insurance has actually dropped.
The Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1980 was supposed to increase insurance
minimums based on inflation but never did. The new minimum of $4.9 million
would be updated regularly on pace with inflation if the INSURANCE act passes.
In 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a rule
change to increase mandatory minimums for insurance liability for trucking
companies. One recommendation was to change the $750,000 minimum to $10
million. But in 2017, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
backed off and decided to kill its own attempt to change the rules.
In its withdrawal notice dated June 5, 2017, the agency wrote, “FMCSA
is not able to calculate economic benefits from having more financial
resources available to assist crash victims associated with increased
minimum financial responsibility limits.”
If you or a loved one is injured or killed due to the negligence of a semi-truck
driver contact the experienced attorneys at Tabor Law Firm today. We have
handled hundreds of truck accident cases, and we work diligently to ensure
our clients get the legal support they need as we work to obtain the full
compensation they deserve.
