Blog
TRALA Members Exempted From Maryland Vehicle Height Legislation
- By: Shannon Davison
- On: 05/19/2020 10:45:43
- In: Legislative Bulletins
TRALA-supported Maryland Senate Bill 41 officially became law this month. SB 41 allows for an exemption from liability on vehicle height legislation for truck renting and leasing members in Baltimore County.
As a reminder, on January 8, 2020, the Maryland State Senate introduced SB 41 which would institute a Vehicle Height Monitoring System. The bill sought to install video monitoring systems to record any vehicle that was in violation of exceeding Baltimore County's maximum vehicle height restriction. TRALA noticed that Senate Bill 41 did not include language that would allow the owner to transfer the liability to the operator at the time of the incident, which TRALA was able to include in last year's legislation.
With the transfer of liability language missing from this session's version of the bill, TRALA reached out to its lobbyist in Maryland to ensure it would be included in the final version of the bill. However, during negotiations with the sponsor, TRALA was able to get truck renting and leasing companies excluded from the bill entirely. What this means is that TRALA members would not be held liable if the renter or lessee was in violation of the maximum height restriction law in Baltimore County. TRALA was pleased that this language swiftly passed both the House and Senate.
On May 8, 2020, Senate Bill 41 officially became law without the signature of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) as he did not veto or sign the bill within 30 days. Per the legislative language included in SB 41, this law does not become effective until October 1, 2021.
TRALA is delighted to see that the state recognized that the truck renting and leasing industry should be exempt from the law as these violations cause an unnecessary financial and administrative burden on rental and leasing companies who are not operating the trucks in violation of this law.
You may view Senate Bill 41 by clicking here.
If you have any questions regarding Senate Bill 41, please contact TRALA's Elizabeth Hyers at ehyers@trala.org or Andrew Stasiowski at astasiowksi@trala.org.
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