Road Safe America's Vision For Our Country's Truck Drivers
Our vision is one that would benefit truck drivers enormously. We believe that truck drivers have one of the deadliest jobs in terms of death on the job. In America, roughly 1000 professional truck drivers die each year. They do indeed have one of the deadliest jobs of any profession in the U.S.
The drivers of large commercial vehicles, we believe, have at least as much responsibility for the safety of the public as do airline pilots. After all, we buy tickets to voluntarily get on commercial aircraft. However, all of us share the public roadways on a daily basis with professional drivers in 80,000 pound vehicles all around us. Therefore, our belief is that professional truck drivers should be trained more like airline pilots, healthy more like airline pilots, rested more like airline pilots and paid more like airline pilots. We will work toward that vision tirelessly.
Many Trucking Accidents Can Be Prevented by Limiting Speeds
Every year 5,000 people die and more than 130,000 people are injured in trucking accidents. Road Safe America is working to reduce semi truck accidents by limiting the top speed of tractor-trailer trucks. As virtually every driver has experienced, many trucks travel at dangerously high speeds. We want a national rule that requires operational speed governors in trucks, limiting them to 65 miles an hour, with serious consequences for violators.
Find out more about how to prevent trucking accidents.
Our highways are deadly. When tractor-trailers and cars collide in fatal trucking accidents, 98 percent of the deaths occur in the cars. It's clear why: for a car to equal the force of a tractor-trailer, which weighs 80,000 pounds, traveling at 70 mph, it would have to be speeding at over 360 mph. Limiting trucks to reasonable speeds will make our highways significantly safer while preserving truckers' important jobs.
Road Safe America Works to Prevent Semi Truck Accidents
Steve and Susan Owings' son, Cullum, was killed in 2002 while trying to return to college following a visit home for Thanksgiving when his car − stopped in an interstate traffic jam − was crushed from behind by a speeding tractor trailer truck on cruise control. Since then, Road Safe America has been working to limit semi truck accidents by focusing on:
- Educating truck drivers and the public about the risks associated with trucks and passenger vehicles sharing our nation's highways, through printed materials and media campaigns.
- Enforcing speed limit laws by supporting law enforcement safety initiatives that prevent trucking accidents.
- Working with policymakers and elected officials to develop laws that will help prevent injury and loss of life on America's roadways due to semi truck accidents.
- Honoring the companies, trucking firms officials and others who help us achieve our mission.