Amy Corbin's life ended prematurely on a dark highway in 1997.

Shortly after 9 p.m. on a clear August night, Corbin, 18, was driving to a friend's house south on U.S. 27 near High Springs.

She never arrived.

And she likely never saw a truck's trailer - loaded with three cars - blocking both sides of the road as its driver attempted to turn around. There were no skid marks, indicating that Corbin never tapped her brakes, according to police reports. For her, the road was clear.

"She was wiped out," her aunt, Peggy Conard, said last month in Alachua. "She just disappeared. I know she never saw a thing."

Crash reports indicated that Corbin died instantly of massive internal injuries. She hit the underside of the trailer at more than 45 mph, turning the small car she was driving into a crunched heap of twisted metal.

But the crash could have been avoided had the trailer been fitted with red and white reflective tape, Conard said.
Starting this month, all trailers over 10,000 pounds - including most 18-wheelers - must be fitted with strips of 2-inch-wide reflective tape, under National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations.

The rules previously required that all trailers manufactured after Dec. 1, 1993, be fitted with safety tape. But in March 1999, the NHTSA extended the requirements to all trailers of a certain weight traveling on U.S. roadways.

An NHTSA report says the tape could reduce accidents by 41 percent in the worst conditions - saving almost 350 lives a year and preventing 7,800 crashes nationwide.

In 1999, the latest year for which figures are available, more than 1 million people were involved in 451,000 truck-related crashes, killing more than 5,300.

In Florida, 350 people were killed in 1999 in collisions with large trucks, up from 308 in 1997. And in Alachua County, 56 such accidents led to 13 deaths in 1999.

And while there are no figures available for how many crashes were caused by lack of reflective tape, Florida Department of Transportation officials say the tape likely reduces the risk of collisions.

"There's no fender-bender with a semi," said Lt. Kenny Morris with the Motor Carrier Compliance Division of the Florida DOT. "Any crash is a major, major accident that usually results in fatalities or serious injuries. It's very important for them to be fitted with this. The side lights on trailers aren't going to stay on all the time, and when light hits this tape, it's almost as bright as light itself - it helps."

Morris and other officers from the division are charged with inspecting trailers for safety violations that include safety tape.

While he said most trailers he's come across are in compliance, some slip by. The penalty for not being outfitted with the tape is not a ticket, he said.

Instead, the trailer must be fitted with tape before it is sent out on another route. He said roughly 95 percent of trucks are in compliance.

"After they get pulled over, when they get on the road, they better be ready," Morris said.


Profits A Concern

In less then four minutes, Conard has brought a stranger to tears.

Standing in a motel parking lot off U.S. 441 in Alachua, Conard is on a crusade of sorts, visiting truck stops or gas stations in her spare time to talk with truck drivers about the NHTSA's requirements, hoping she can convince drivers to talk to their companies about the tape.


Truck Safety

As she tells her story to a truck driver standing in front of his rig, the driver becomes teary-eyed, apologizing to Conard for driving a trailer without the reflective tape.
Conard offers him a tape kit she bought. Often, she'll hand out kits purchased with her own money.

"I may not see the results today, but maybe somebody somewhere will be riding down the highway and not hit a truck like Amy did," Conard said as she fought back tears.
Still, Morris said, truck companies argue that it's an expensive requirement, one that can take needed trailers off the roads for days.

"It can be expensive for them," Morris said. "You take a small carrier with a fleet of 20 to 30 trucks, and at sometimes $200 to $500 per truck, it adds up for them."
A complete tape kit for a 48-foot trailer that would comply with DOT standards sells for about $80 at most auto part stores.

A spokesman from the American Trucking Association, one of the largest industry lobbying organizations, said the organization is committed to safety but still must look out for the industry's concerns.

That's not a great argument for Conard though, or for safety organizations that lobby Congress for stricter regulations.

Michael Scippa, executive director of California-based Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), said the trucking lobby has wielded incredible influence during the past 10 years that helps trucking companies shirk certain safety requirements.

"It's a classic struggle," Scippa said. "It's profits versus personal safety. It always comes down to money."
He also said industry competition often forces smaller trucking companies to ignore rules to make profits.

"There's very little profit margins for any company," he said. "The larger ones with thousands of trailers make enough because of their size, but the smaller ones, everyone is just getting by, and they don't want to pay money to enhance their small fleets that cut into already small profits."

Walking back to her car, Conard lets out a sigh and clutches her hands to her heart. The driver has promised to put the tape on his trailer before he leaves in the morning.

You can see a small glimmer of satisfaction as she says, "I feel so much better now. I need to do this more often."