A Louisiana House panel voted to reject two proposals that sought to slow truck traffic on major highways in the state.

The House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee declined to pass the bills May 10, effectively killing them for the year.

HB1068, sponsored by Rep. Dan Morrish, D-Jennings, would have made permanent the 55 mph speed limit for big rigs on Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya Basin, The Advocate reported.

The bill also would have made permanent the regulation that tractor-trailers with 10 or more wheels remain in the right lane of I-10 while traveling over the basin.

Gov. Mike Foster ordered both provisions last September after a truck driver and four others died in an 11-vehicle pileup accident on I-10 between Butte La Rose and Whiskey Bay.

Since then, trucks have been limited to 55 mph and travel in the right lane. Other vehicles, however, are allowed to travel in the left lane and run up to 60 mph.

According to the newspaper, Foster ordered the truck restrictions as part of a pilot program that was supposed to be evaluated after three years.

Jim Champagne, executive director of the Highway Safety Commission, said putting the truck regulations into law at this point would make it more difficult to make adjustments in two more years.

Also rejected by the panel was a bill that would have implemented similar provisions over any elevated roadway.

HB1185, sponsored by Rep. Arthur Morrell, D-New Orleans, sought to ban trucks weighing at least 5,000 pounds from passing any motor vehicle on an elevated thoroughfare or on a street or highway within a municipality. A violation carried a $500 fine.

The committee decided to kill Morrell’s bill, opting to wait until state transportation officials finish their three-year study of regulations on trucks crossing the basin.