Here are five things worth knowing today:
1. Texas, California and Georgia have some of the deadliest interstates, according to data and maps compiled by Vox Media. Vox compiled a mapped list of the country’s top 10 deadliest interstates for fatal accidents per mile and found that I-285 in Georgia ranked number one. Vox used data from the National Highway Safety Administration to examine where fatal traffic crashes are most likely to occur. Vox has the full list.
2. The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) will hold a webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 18, that will examine large truck crash fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The webinar will include a model case-study examination and outline community resource opportunities, DOT said. Registration is open for the Safer People, Safer Streets webinar.
3. On his way to Japan, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with Alaska Natives late last week to discuss transportation issues in the state. According to the Juneau Empire, the meeting centered on the high cost of transportation in rural Alaska and the funding programs the federal Department of Transportation has in place. When Foxx arrived in Japan, he became the first U.S. dignitary to ride on Japan’s magnetic-levitation train, according to The Wall Street Journal. WSJ reports that Washington is considering the possibility of introducing the system in the Northeast Corridor – between New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. The Wall Street Journal has more.
4. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is pushing forward with a plan to increase the state’s gas tax to pay for road and bridge projects, AL.com reports. Back in August, Alabama’s state House committee voted to approve a 5-cent hike in the state’s 21 cents-per-gallon gas tax. According to the report, that increase would have raised an estimated $70 billion in fiscal year 2016; however, the increase stalled as legislature focused on a $200 million budget deficit. AL has more.
5. Kara Rouse, a mother of three from South Normanton, Derbyshire, England, has just been crowned Trucker of the Year, according to the Derbyshire Times. Rouse began her career in heavy-duty trucking just over four years after switching her career as a nail technician, according to the report. Last month, the UK public nominated drivers from all over the country to be named as Staveley head’s Trucker of the Year. According to the Derbyshire Times, the competition is the first of its kind and is aimed to showcase “the unsung heroes of the trucking industry.”
