The American Trucking Associations has released the details of a bold highway safety agenda designed to reduce the number of highway-related fatalities and injuries for all drivers on the nation’s highways. Augmenting an established platform of safety initiatives, ATA outlined 18 critical steps for further reducing highway crashes among all motorists.
These recommendations were made by ATA’s Safety Task Force and adopted by its board of directors at the annual Management Conference and Exhibition recently.
Ten recommendations to improve truck and passenger vehicle driver performance are:
1. Policy on the use of non-integrated technologies while the vehicle is in motion.
2. Policy supporting uniform commercial driver license (CDL) testing standards.
3. Support for a CDL graduated licensing study.
4. Advocate for additional parking facilities for trucks.
5. Advocate for a national maximum 65-mph speed limit.
6. Pursue strategies to increase use of seat belts.
7. Support for a national car-truck driver behavior improvement program.
8. Support for increased use of red light cameras and automated speed enforcement.
9. Support for graduated licensing in all states for non-commercial teen-age drivers.
10. Support for more stringent laws to reduce drinking and driving.
Three recommendations that focus on making vehicles safer are:
11. Support targeted electronic speed governing of certain non-commercial vehicles.
12. Require electronic speed governing of all large trucks made since 1992.
13. Advocate for new large-truck crashworthiness standards.
Five recommendations to improve federal oversight are:
14. Advocate for a national employer notification system.
15. Create a federal clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol test results of CDL holders.
16. Support a federal registry of certified medical examiners.
17. Create a policy supporting access to the national Driver Information Resource.
18. Support for required safety training by new entrant motor carriers.
For more details on each of the 18 recommendations, access the full Safety Task Force Report here.
