Death of Georgia Southern nursing students at center of bill for big rigs

WASHINGTON — Two deadly crashes on one stretch of Georgia highway last spring both involved tractor-trailers and cost 10 people their lives. 

Now, there's a new bill being proposed in Congress in the wake of those deadly accidents.
 
Channel 2's Justin Gray learned the bill would require new safety technology be installed on any new tractor-trailer before it can hit the road. 

Studies from the federal government have shown that automatic breaking systems on tractor-trailers do save lives and many companies are starting to install them.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) wants to require the technology by law.
 
A fiery crash in April caused by a tractor-trailer slamming into a car on Interstate 16 killed five Georgia Southern University nursing students. 

Johnson believes introducing the new bill could prevent similar tragedies in the future.
 
"It can help to save lives and that's what this legislation is all about," Johnson told Gray.
 
In a promotional video from truck maker Volvo, it shows off collision avoidance technology, which is an automatic braking system designed to keep a safe distance between semis and the vehicles in front of them.
 
Johnson's bill would require the automatic breaking systems on all new commercial vehicles
 
Highway safety advocates have been pressuring the Department of Transportation for years to write new rules, requiring collision assistance technology. Johnson's proposed bill would go further and require it by law.
 
"This legislation will put some hard deadlines on when to adopt this technology. If we don't do that, then we'll just see time passing us by," Johnson said.
 
The trucking industry is open to the technology. UPS announced earlier this year it will install it on all new trucks.
 
But the industry is against requiring the systems by law.
 
A spokesman for the American Trucking Associations told Gray: "We are encouraged by what we've seen so far, and we are anxious to evaluate some additional real world truck data before they are mandated by law."
 
The proposed bill is so new, the actual details and text aren't part of the congressional record yet.
 
But fellow Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and David Scott (D-Ga.) have already signed on as cosponsors.

WSBTV