HALIFAX, N.S. –Nova Scotia has eliminated a controversial requirement for high-mounted lights on the trailers of long combination vehicles (LCVs).

The high-mounted lights were not required in some other provinces and in fact they were illegal on LCVs in Ontario. The requirement has proven contentious among fleets.

“Safety is always our number one priority, but there has been no proven safety benefit to these lights,” said Bill Estabrooks, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal in Nova Scotia. “Almost all other jurisdictions in North America have eliminated the high-mounted light requirement and it makes sense for Nova Scotia to follow the same rules.”

“Nova Scotia’s continuing development as Canada’s Atlantic Gateway requires that we think internationally,” Estabrooks added. “We’re hoping this change will assist companies who want to pick up, or ship, their goods through the Port of Halifax.”

The announcement leaves New Brunswick as the sole province still requiring high-mounted lights on LCV trailers.

In the November issue of Truck News, Mike Balsom, program manager, Weights and Dimensions Policy, N.S. Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal hinted of a compromise: “I think it won’t be too long before everything gets squared away. The four provinces work well together and have frank and open discussions,” he said at the time. “I can’t say a whole lot right now (but) there are sensitive discussions going on. The high-mounted light issue has been blown out of proportion.”