Washington, D.C. ? The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to delay a Bush administration plan to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways.

The measure, authored by Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., would require the trucks to be declared safe first, the lawmakers said, and Mexico would have to give U.S. truckers the same access south of the border.

The House voted 411-3 to approve a three-year Department of Transportation pilot program that would restrict opening the border to 100 carriers based in Mexico, who would be allowed to use a maximum of 1,000 vehicles.

All members of the Kansas delegation voted for the measure.

The Bush administration wanted to start a pilot program this year that would run for a year before fully opening the border to Mexican trucks.

“If the DOT pilot program proceeds as planned, drivers in Kansas and across the United States will soon share their roads with unsafe Mexican trucks,” Boyda said in a written statement. “By decisively approving the Safe American Roads Act, the House is protecting the millions of American families who drive on our highways every day.”

The House bill specifies criteria for the pilot program before it can start, including setting up an independent panel to evaluate the test program and getting certification from the inspector general that safety and inspection requirements have been met.