Road Safe America Applauds American Trucking Associations Policy Supporting Electronic Speed Governors on All Big Trucks

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Road Safe America, a non-profit seeking to have a national regulation adopted requiring the use of speed governors to slow down tractor-trailer rigs to save lives, applauds the action by the board of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) supporting required activation of electronic speed governors on big trucks built since 1992 at 65 mph or slower.

The ATA board took the action as part of an 18-point initiative to reduce the number of highway fatalities by improving driver performance and vehicle safety. The ATA formerly had endorsed activation of speed governors on big trucks built in the future, so the retroactive nature of its new directive is welcomed as a pro-safety measure. This addresses the millions of existing trucks as well as those manufactured in the future.

“This is an historic breakthrough in our efforts to have speed governors activated at 65 mph on tractor trailer trucks over 13 tons because statistics from other nations show that when heavy trucks are operated at slower speeds, they are involved in fewer and less violent wrecks,” commented Stephen C. Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America (www.roadsafeamerica.org).

“The ATA is to be commended for its wisdom and foresight, and we hope the new policy will go into effect as soon as possible,” said Owings. “Each day that passes, more truckers and passenger car occupants and drivers are injured or killed in wrecks involving big rigs.”

Road Safe America was founded by the Owings after their son, Cullum, was killed in 2002 when his car – stopped in an interstate traffic jam – was crushed from behind by a tractor trailer truck going 7 mph over the posted speed limit on cruise control.

Since then, the Owings family and thousands of supporters in the trucking industry, government, business, and the insurance industry have been working to have speed governors, standard equipment on all heavy trucks in the U.S. since 1992, required to be activated on all Class 7 and 8 trucks (over 13 tons). “That one change will save the lives of some of the 1,000 truckers killed and the 4,000 motorists killed yearly in large-truck-related highway crashes,” said Owings, who has served on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee.

The European Union, Australia, Japan and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have regulations requiring speed limiting devices set at or below 65 mph on all large trucks. Sadly, instead of showing international leadership, the U.S. is behind the rest of the world on this issue.

Owings said citizens should contact their representatives in Congress and Senators as well as the candidates for president requesting their support for requiring speed governors on big trucks to make the roads safer for everyone.

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CDC Media Analysis Examines Car Surfing

Injuries and Deaths Reported at Wide Range of Speeds

Teens are getting injured or killed by riding on the outside of a moving vehicle - an activity known as car surfing, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) review of newspaper articles released today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report also noted that car surfing injuries and deaths were reported at a wide range of vehicle speeds, from as low as 5 mph up to 80 mph.

CDC researchers examined 18 years of news reports from January 1990 to August 2008 using a newspaper article database. The researchers found 99 reported incidents of car surfing, 58 percent of which were fatal.

"While car surfing may be appealing to teens and others, our recommendation is simple - don't do it! Even a vehicle moving at a slow speed can be deadly," said John Halpin, M.D., the study's lead author.

"Parents should talk to their teens about the dangers of car surfing, especially if they feel that 'car surfing' has gained attention and popularity in their community," Halpin said.

Researchers excluded cases of injury related to activities that resemble car surfing, such as ghost riding, an activity that involves a driver exiting, and dancing next to a moving vehicle. They also noted that newspapers may vary in terms of the amount of attention they devote to these stories, or may not report them at all.

-- In the news stories reviewed, the average age of those injured or
killed was 17.6, with males accounting for 70 percent of the victims.
-- The largest number of car surfing injuries and deaths reported in U.S.
newspapers occurred in August.
-- Most (74 percent) of the news stories involved incidents in the
Midwest and the South.
-- Three out of four of the news stories reported car surfing deaths were
caused by a bump or blow to the head.
-- The news stories also suggest that car surfing may be both seasonal
and regional in nature.

The media analysis also found that in 29 percent of incidents, a sudden movement or maneuver was mentioned, such as an abrupt turn or sudden braking, which caused the person car surfing to fall off the vehicle. These types of falls can result in serious injuries or death, even at slow speeds.

National Teen Safe Driving Week is Oct. 19 - 25 and information from CDC is at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/spotlite/teendrivers.htm, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/our_research/ydri.php.

For a complete copy of the MMWR report, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr. For more information about CDC's work in injury and violence prevention, please link to: http://www.cdc.gov/injury.

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