Road Safe America responds to Oklahoma
Highway Tragedy

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On Friday June 26th, 2009 a fast moving tractor-trailer crashed into stopped traffic on Interstate 44 near Miami, OK. An incredible ten individuals were killed in this one tragedy.

Following the Oklahoma highway tragedy, Road Safe America provided commentary to numerous news outlets alerting them to the dangers we know of on our nation’s highways.,/

LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM THOMAS HODGSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ROAD SAFE AMERICA
RE: FATAL OKLAHOMA CRASH

Dear Editor,

Another tragedy involving tractor trailers. My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the ten passengers and drivers killed on the interstate near Miami, OK. The 76 year old driver apparently never even tried to stop. Was he asleep, speeding, driving faulty equipment? All of these? Though this tragedy is still under investigation, law enforcement likely has a theory on at least one action that caused this fatal crash; excessive speed by the trucker. Every year more than 4,000 passenger vehicle occupants and 1,000 truckers die in the U.S. in crashes involving large trucks. In many of the cases as in this one, the police investigation reports the truck was driving too fast for conditions. Why do these large trucks drive so fast and kill so many?

Answers to the question posed above are plentiful. Misapplied compensation for most truck drivers, paying them by the mile rather than the hour, is a big one. This same pay model results in professional drivers driving too fast and for too many hours just to make an honest day's pay. Sadly, the professional driver himself has chosen one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. As many as 1,000 die every year.

One solution at a time, please. Most Americans do not know that every tractor-trailer built in the U.S. since 1992 comes from the factory with an installed speed governor. These safety devices are too often never engaged (thankfully, many fleets in this country do use them) and many highway behemoths are free to roam our interstates with no maximum speed and often on cruise control. How logical would it be to have a national rule passed regulating the use of these speed governors and having them set at 65 miles per hour? Such a change is being considered in the United States Congress for the upcoming Transportation Equity Act, but it is a long way from a certainty.

Next time an 80,000 pound truck passes you on a slick Interstate going 75 mph, imagine how much safer you might feel if the wheels of commerce would — in this case — slow down!

Road Safe America is not anti-trucker, and in fact, we are pro-trucking because of the important economic impact trucking has on our economy. We support safer drivers in safer vehicles on safer roads to reduce the tragedy of so many deaths and injuries on our highways.

Thomas M. Hodgson, Executive Director
Road Safe America, Inc.