Great News! Roads Are Becoming Safer

I have great news! Late last month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was told by a bunch of different truck driving companies as well and the American Trucking Associations (ATA), that the new rulings set in 2005, on hours-of-service, is helping the accident numbers to go down. In fact, it looks like we are at our best numbers ever for lowest fatality rates. I would call that a successful decision made for safety, wouldn’t you agree? According to PRNewswire.com, The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) showed some amazing statistics:
• 2007 – truck-involved fatality rate was at 2.12 for every 100 million miles.
• 2008 – truck-involved fatality rate went down 12.3% to 1.86 for every 100 million miles.
Since this law went into affect 5 years ago, truck-involved injury has dropped 25%, and truck-involved fatalities have dropped 22%! Even better statistics, is that deaths and accidents have dropped 66% since first being recorded in 1975. This is enough to convince me that this law was a great decision.
Sleep apnea, fatigue, too many hours on the road, and other issues related to falling asleep at the wheel, are problems that are being worked on by different organizations and they are making a difference. With more and more research-taking place, we are finding ways to make our roads safer. Not only are fatigue issues being investigated, but also distractions such as smart phones usage while behind the wheel. We are so lucky to have research-taking place on safety while driving on the highway.
As a Woman in Trucking, it’s good to know that we have ways to make it safer for others on the road by following the guidelines set to protect us. We may loose a little cash, but it is worth it to save lives. Truck Driving Jobs are becoming safer and safer and driving along side commercial trucks are becoming less dangerous too!

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safety-figures-show-that-current-hours-of-service-rules-are-working-82969292.html