ATLANTA A citizens highway safety group is urging the federal government to adopt regulations requiring speed governors on over-the-road buses and trucks to be set at 68 mph.

According to Road Safe America a regulation requiring speed limiters on large commercial vehicles has been pending at the U.S. Department of Transportation for almost two years without action.

In issuing its call for the government to adopt speed restrictions for heavy vehicles, Road Safe America cited a new Congressional report that says thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, heart attacks, or unconscious spells behind the wheel, leading to deadly crashes.

The group adds that "hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial (drivers) licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments." (See Aug. 15 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Road Safe America founder Stephen C. Owings says the study "is further evidence of the need to have special regulations requiring activation of speed governors set at 68 mph on the largest machines operating on our national roadways. Heavy trucks (and buses) already come equipped with the speed limiting device, so activating them would be an easy, cost-effective step that would immediately begin to save lives.

"In light of the death toll, we don't understand why this hasn't already been done."

Road Safe America says 5,000 people die annually in crashes involved over-the-road trucks.

Devices capable of limiting speed have been standard equipment on over-the-road buses and trucks for 20 years, and many companies and independent truckers use them, but there is no national requirement for all commercial vehicles to activate these speed limiters.

Road Safe America has a petition pending before USDOT to have speed governor activation required on all large buses and Class 7 and 8 trucks (over 13 tons in weight) at 68 mph or slower. The group says it is being supported in the initiative by "national safety advocacy organizations, the American Trucking Associations, numerous citizens, trucking companies and business executives."