U.S. Senators, Victims of Tired Truckers, Safety Advocates Warn: DOT Plan to Give Truckers More Continuous Driving Hours Will Increase Highway Deaths

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 20, 2000

Contact: Stuart Mackintosh (202) 408 1711
Booth Gunter (202) 588-7703

(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Senators, highway safety organizations, victims and survivors of fatigue related truck crashes today called on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to modify the new proposed rule on bus and truck driver hours of service, expressing alarm about the increase in maximum continuous drive time from 10 to 12 hours, at the same time they support some aspects of the proposed rule.

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Max Cleland (D-GA) joined Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), Public Citizen, Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT), and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), in calling for aggressive reform of current hours of service regulations, which have been in place since the 1930s.

Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen said: "Driving a truck is one of the most deadly occupations in the United States. Increasing the consecutive driving hours for truck drivers is inhumane and rolls us back to pre-depression era working conditions. This dangerous proposal will result in a dramatic increase in the risk of crashes."

Daphne Izer, Co-Chair of PATT (PATT), who lost her son Jeff in a truck crash involving a fatigued driver said, "The Administration's attempt to justify more driving hours is unfounded, and leaves victims, survivors, truck drivers and the motoring public questioning whether safety is the highest priority at DOT. No load of toilet paper or Wheaties is worth your life or that of your loved ones."

Jordan Bunce, 13, from Kennedy, New York, read a letter he sent to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater objecting to the proposed rule: "I know how heartbreaking it is to lose a family member. I just don't want it to happen to another child and their family like mine." He continued, "This would be a big mistake so please don't let truckers drive longer."

Theresa Hamm, a CRASH Survivors Network member and D.C. native, spoke about the tragic loss of four of her family members in a multiple vehicle crash caused by a tired trucker in North Carolina. "My life changed drastically in July 1995 when four members of my family, including two children, were killed in one horrible crash, caused by a speeding big rig driven by a drowsy truck driver."

In 1999 over 5,200 people were killed and 127,000 injured in crashes involving large trucks. Large trucks are also more likely to be involved in pileups. DOT research shows that driver fatigue may be a factor in up to 15 percent of all heavy truck crashes. "I know first hand that truck driver fatigue is a life or death issue. What happened to my family was not an accident, it was a violent crash, and it was a preventable crash," said Hamm.

Michael Dineen, Vice President of State and Legislative Affairs at Kemper Insurance, also underscored the danger posed by increasing the maximum continuous driving hours allowed truck drivers. "Tired truckers put themselves at risk when they get behind the wheel of a tractor trailer, and they also put other road users at increased risk of injury. It is risky business for us as their insurer, and for all those involved in the ensuing crashes," said Dineen.

Dr. Gerald Donaldson, Senior Research Director of Advocates For Highway And Auto Safety stressed that claims that the new rule would force the use of thousands of additional trucks and drivers are misleading. "There is no need to have more trucks on the road at any given time because the new proposal will result in many drivers off duty during the time other trucks are pressed into service."

The DOT is failing to heed public opinion on truck safety, which is firmly against longer driving and duty hours. An August 1999 Opinion Research Corporation poll asked the public whether they thought truckers driving longer hours were much less safe than requiring fewer hours. Not surprisingly, 80 percent said longer hours were much less safe. Secretary Slater should follow the wisdom of the American people and address the dangers posed by tired and overworked drivers, rather than make a bad situation worse.