Reps. García, Johnson Renew Fight for Stronger Truck Insurance Requirements

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressmen Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act, legislation that would strengthen insurance requirements for interstate motor carriers and protect American families from the financial devastation caused by catastrophic truck crashes.

The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act proposes two key changes:

• Increasing the minimum insurance requirement for interstate motor carriers from $750,000 to $5,000,000. This outdated figure, which has not changed since 1980, does not reflect rising medical costs and potential losses from serious crashes. The new minimum would reflect the true cost of a tragic truck crash.
• Indexing the new minimum insurance requirement to inflation. This critical provision ensures that financial protection for crash victims does not erode over time, keeping pace with the rising cost of healthcare and other expenses.

“For too long, truck crash victims and their families have been burdened by tremendous emotional and financial consequences, facing a mountain of medical debt and shattered lives,” said Congressman García. “The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act is about justice, responsibility, and protecting our communities. It's time to ensure that trucking companies have adequate insurance to cover the true cost of their actions and prevent families from being financially destroyed by crashes they had no control over.”

Kate Brown is a board member for the Institute for Safer Trucking (IST), a non-profit committed to helping truck crash victims and survivors throughout the U.S. Her son Graham was severely injured in a truck crash in 2005. The trucking company only had a $750,000 policy. “Our family still struggles with the physical, emotional, and financial burdens of that crash,” Kate Brown said. "The inadequate insurance barely covered a fraction of Graham's medical needs, leaving us buried in debt. The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act would help prevent other families from facing the same nightmare.”

“The fact that minimum insurance requirements for interstate motor carriers haven’t been updated since 1980 is ridiculous,” said Congressman Johnson. “Families like the Karths—who lost their beloved AnnaLeah and Mary on I-20 in Georgia—and so many others who have lost loved ones in truck crashes should not also be financially devastated in the aftermath of these tragedies.”

“An increase in the minimum liability insurance requirement for trucking companies is long overdue. $750,000 is a value which doesn’t come anywhere close to DOT’s determination of the Value of a Statistical Life at $12.5 million for 2022.” said Marianne and Jerry Karth, co-founders of AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety. “We lost two daughters, AnnaLeah and Mary, in 2013 due to a truck crash. The trucking company’s insurance policy had to cover all the costs no matter how many parties or victims were involved. We need a commonsense solution to this ongoing predicament so victims no longer have to bear the financial burden and so trucking companies are incentivized to adopt available safety technologies.”

Dexter Culclager, an IST board member, who lost his entire family in a 2015 truck crash, added his support for the legislation. “My wife, Yakel, and our three children, Tre'Quis, Tra'Desia, and Tra'Veion, were taken from us in an instant because of a negligent trucking company,” Culclager said. "There's nothing that can bring them back, but the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act could prevent other families from experiencing the same devastating loss by incentivizing the insurance companies to play a larger role in keeping unsafe trucking companies off our roads.”

The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act is cosponsored by Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02), John Garamendi (CA-03), Steve Cohen (TN-09), and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13).

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