Litigation

Protect the Public From BIG Truck Accidents On Our Roads and Highways

By Michael Kaplen

Large trucks on our nation?s road are a significant cause of highway injuries and deaths. Many of these injuries are head injuries resulting in traumatic brain damage. 

The following statistics are shocking:

Every year, about 5,000 people die and over 100,000 people are injured in large truck crashes. Despite only making up 3 percent of all registered vehicles, large trucks represent 9 percent of all vehicles involved in these fatal crashes and are responsible for 12 percent of all crash fatalities.

Fortunately, Congress is working on a new transportation spending bill that would prevent increases in truck sizes and weights on the National Highway System, including the Interstates ? increases that endanger the safety of the motoring public, our roads and bridges.

America's highway infrastructure is crumbling, in part due to oversized trucks, which also are responsible for far too many crashes resulting in deaths and injuries. Also, the bigger the rig, the bigger the impact on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. We simply cannot afford all of the costs of allowing bigger and heavier trucks on our roads and highways.

PUBLIC CITIZEN, the national non-profit  public interest organization of which I am a proud supporter is seeking support for legislation currently pending in the United States House of Representatives:  H.R. 1618, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2009.  They have requested that you contact your congress person and ask them to both co-sponsor and support this legislation.

Here is some language that you can use when writing to your congressal representative:

I am  writing to relay my strong support for H.R. 1618 and S. 779, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2009 (SHIPA), and urge you to co-sponsor this important legislation. The SHIPA bill is co-sponsored by more than 80 Democratic and Republican Members of Congress, and supported by national highway and truck safety groups, victims and survivors of truck crashes, as well as leading national environmental and public interest organizations.

Every year about 5,000 people die in truck crashes including more than 800 truck
drivers and over 100,000 are injured. Large trucks represent 9 percent of all vehicle involved in fatal crashes, are responsible for 12 percent of all crash fatalities but make up only 3 percent of all registered vehicles.

The purpose of SHIPA is to prevent the constant increases in truck sizes and weights on Interstate and non-Interstate portions of the federal National Highway System (NHS) that endanger the motoring public as well as our roads and bridges. Enactment of SHIPA will extend the safety and infrastructure protection that was achieved in 1991 when Congress overwhelmingly enacted the freeze on longer combination vehicles (LCV) in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).

Enacting H.R. 1618 and S. 779, the SHIPA Act, would save lives and prevent injuries, limit damage to our crumbling roads and bridges, reduce global warming pollution and curb our dependence on oil, and help achieve a balanced multi-modal transportation system. I urge you to support this sound and sensible legislation and look forward to working with you to build a safer, cleaner and more efficient transportation future for our nation.

Your assistance in protecting our nation?s roads and the health and safety of the public is appreciated.

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on June 27, 2009 (boomark / email).