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Today's News , 2003
• Kulik Steps Up at TPG ATA Hails 'Historic' Drop in Fatalities  Reprint permission
The American Trucking Associations is hailing a fifth straight annual drop in truck-involved fatalities as "one of the few bright spots" in the nation's latest highway safety report. According to figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the trucking industry recorded its best highway safety improvement in nearly a decade. The number of truck-involved crash fatalities dropped below 5,000 for the first time since 1995. The 2002 toll of 4,897 fatalities marks a 4.2 percent decline from the 2001 figure. The drop in truck-related highway deaths came as overall traffic fatalities in the United States increased from 42,196 in 2001 to 42,815 in 2002. Alcohol-related deaths, motorcycles fatalities and young driver deaths each showed an increase. "This positive news is a tribute to our professional truck drivers and our motor carriers who work hard every mile, every hour, everyday to safely share the road with other motorists," said Bill Graves, president and CEO of the ATA. Graves noted "highways are our workplace -- we drive over 400 billion miles a year. We recognize and accept the special safety responsibility that this brings." Through ATA's Share the Road program, sponsored by Mack Trucks, truckers are trying to connect directly with other motorists, teaching them how to drive safely around large trucks. This program is especially important since research has demonstrated that the majority of truck-involved fatalities are multi-vehicle crashes involving a passenger car and a truck," Graves said. In addition, ATA has instituted a Highway Watch program in conjunction with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to help truck drivers spot aggressive drivers and dangerous highway situations and report them to authorities. "We believe that these public education efforts have helped to produce these low fatality numbers," Graves said. "While this continues a positive trend of reduced fatalities, we believe that additional commonsense steps can save more lives," Graves concluded. "If we all insist on increased, visible traffic enforcement for cars and trucks -- especially for speeders -- then we'll continue to see the numbers move in the right direction."
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