| CHARLESTON,
W.Va. - Life-saving highway driving tips are being presented across
West Virginia this week as part of the American Trucking Associations' national
Share the Road highway safety tour by top professional truck drivers.
During the state-wide
tour, professional drivers with Share the Road are handing out instructional
DVDs to West Virginia High Schools in order to educate students. The event
today at Poca High School kicks off the efforts to incorporate this training
into a comprehensive driver safety curriculum in West Virginia.
Being the middle of
the busy holiday travel season, Share the Road is using the opportunity
to educate students and teachers about the necessity of following the
rules of the road and how to avoid the blindspots around large trucks.
The American Trucking
Associations and the West Virginia Motor Truck Association joined the
elite group of drivers to discuss safety on West Virginia highways.
"We all want
to spend the holidays with our families," said Clarence Jenkins,
a professional truck driver for UPS Freight from Poca, W. Va. "With
additional motorists on the road during the holiday season, safe driving
habits become all the more important. That's why we're out here today
- to educate the public and make us all a little safer."
Featured at today's
event were professional truck drivers Steve Eckhoff (Hogan Transports),
Clarence Jenkins (UPS Freight) and Rick Whittle (Bulldog Hiway Express).
These drivers are members of an elite team of million-mile, accident-free
truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry's safety messages across
the country.
"Just as every
kid knows how to get an eighteen-wheeler to honk and share the thrill
with his friends, every young driver needs to know how to share the road
with our captains of commerce. I commend the WV Motor Truck Association
and ATA on this innovative prevention program. Safety must be all our
driving concern, especially, new drivers," Said Rep. Nick Rahall.
West Virginia Motor
Truck Association President Jan Vineyard told reporters, "Trucking
is big business in West Virginia, so it is important to teach cars and
trucks how to co-exist safely on our highways. Share the Road is a vital
part of our efforts to make drivers aware of the blind spots around trucks,
and we are excited to get this message out to high schools throughout
the state."
Today's presentation
of Share the Road safety measures is important for motorists because,
according to statistics:
- Traffic fatalities
increased nearly 10 percent from 2005 to 2006 in West Virginia (WVDOT)
- 35 percent of all
truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's blind spots (Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
- According to three
different studies - including the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation and
DOT, 3 out of 4 truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated
by car drivers.
Following the safety
demonstration today at Poca High School, Share the Road headed to Capitol
High School in Charleston, W. Va. Tuesday the program heads to Woodrow
Wilson High School in Beckley, W. Va., and finishes up Wednesday at East
Fairmont High School in Fairmont, W. Va. The safety demonstration is designed
to teach specific skills in order for students to drive safely around
other automobiles and around trucks on the highways, so that they arrive
safely at their destinations. (See the attached Share the Road safety
guidelines.)
Share the Road is a highway safety outreach program of the American
Trucking Associations that educates all drivers about sharing the roads
safely with large trucks. An elite team of professional truck drivers
with millions of accident-free miles deliver life-saving messages to millions
of motorists annually. The safety program is sponsored by Mack Trucks,
Inc. and Michelin North America, Inc. www.atastr.org.
ABOUT THE SAFETY PARTNERS
American Trucking
Associations: American Trucking Associations, the national trade association
for the trucking industry, is a federation of affiliated state trucking
associations, conferences and organizations that includes more than 38,000
motor carrier members representing every type and class of motor carrier
in the country.
The American Trucking
Associations has led the campaign for rigorous safety laws that affect
every driver on the nation's highways. ATA's overall safety agenda includes
greater education on sharing the road with large trucks, increased traffic
enforcement for all vehicles that operate unsafely around large trucks,
the adoption of primary safety belt laws in all states, and reinstatement
of a national maximum speed limit of 65 mph for all vehicles. ATA also
supports limiting truck speeds at the time of manufacture. www.truckline.com
West Virginia Motor
Truck Association: The West Virginia Motor Truck Association is committed
to safety on the state's highways. With 175 companies, WVMTA represents
West Virginia's trucking industry with a unified voice. Trucking is a
vital part of West Virginia's economy, carrying millions of dollars worth
of cargo every day and servicing every community in the state. Many communities
in West Virignia communities are served exclusively by trucks, and couldn't
exist without the trucking industry. www.wvmotortruck.org
Mack Trucks, Inc:
Dedicated to quality, reliability, and total customer satisfaction, Mack
Trucks, Inc. has provided its customers with innovative transportation
solutions for more than a century. Today, Mack is one of North America's
largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, and MACK(r) vehicles are sold
and serviced in more than 45 countries worldwide. Since 2000, Mack has
proudly sponsored Share the Road, the American Trucking Associations'
public information outreach campaign aimed at
enhancing the safety of our nation's roadways. In 2007, the company donated
to Share the Road a new Mack Pinnacle™ 70-Inch High-Rise sleeper
for use in the program's safety and media events. www.macktrucks.com
Michelin North America:
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs,
manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes,
automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks,
motorcycles and the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides,
hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville,
SC, Michelin North America employs 22,230 and operates 19 major manufacturing
plants in 17 locations. Michelin North America became a sponsor of American
Trucking Associations' Share the Road program in January 2006. The 53'
Share the Road tractor-trailer rolls across the country on Michelin X
One drive tires and anti-splash steer tires". www.michelin-us.com
Other Links:
Bulldog Hiway Express: www.bulldoghiway.com
Hogan Transports: www.hogan1.com
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: www.fmcsa.dot.gov
UPS Freight: www.upsfreight.com
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