Will Dismantling of Dmvs Increase Truck Wrecks in GA?

The General Assembly could pass legislation this week to dismantle the state Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, though it’s not clear why. See article.
“Representatives of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration indicated that, historically, there is a transition period after this type of change of 1 to 4 years where accident rates and fatalities will increase,” says a memo from the state Office of Planning and Budget dated February 2004.
Critics of the proposal to dismantle DMVS contend the state will lose millions of dollars in efficiency-promoting federal funding that came with the consolidation of functions under DMVS. About $1.8 million that the state receives annually will lapse at least temporarily, said Tom Marlowe, Georgia division director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Fatalities involving commercial vehicles dropped from 214 in 1994 to 164 in 2004, even though there were more trucks on the highway laragely due to to the fact that there are more inspections and there is more emphasis on truck safety. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are said to consider the DMVS “excellently managed” and on the way to being “a national leader” because of its success in cutting the rate of truck accidents.

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).