H.R. 7321 — Towing Safety Act

This section revises the criteria for covered heavy-duty tow and recovery vehicles exempt from federal weight limits on Interstate highways under 23 U.S.C. 127(m)(2) by (1) amending subparagraph (A) to include vehicles responding to, returning from, or transporting a wrecked or disabled vehicle to the nearest appropriate repair facility or other location as directed by a jurisdictional agency; (2) in subparagraph (B), replacing "gross vehicle weight" with "combined gross vehicle weight rating" and changing the ending punctuation to a semicolon; and (3) adding subparagraphs (C) and (D) to require operations within a single state and axle weights and configuration safe for highway bridges along the route as determined by the jurisdictional transportation agency. (Thus, the exemption applies only to intrastate tow operations meeting enhanced safety standards.)

This section defines a "covered heavy-duty tow and recovery vehicle" (i.e., any vehicle transporting a wrecked or disabled vehicle to the nearest repair facility or other designated location) and prohibits states from (1) imposing an overall length limit on any vehicle combination or individual vehicle transported by such a tow vehicle if the wrecked or disabled combination complied with applicable length limits at the time of wreck or disablement; or (2) limiting the number of vehicles transportable in combination with such a tow vehicle under the same circumstances. (Thus, states cannot restrict towing of oversized but previously legal commercial vehicle combinations during recovery.)