ATLANTA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While the world mourns the 346 deaths in the two airliner crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, Road Safe America , the national highway safety advocacy organization, renewed its call today for the U.S. to take action to help prevent more than 400 truck crash deaths in America monthly.
“Lives lost in public tragedies such as the Boeing 737 MAX crashes make international headlines and attract the attention and concern of regulators, legislators, the airlines, the public and the news media,” said Steve Owings, co-founder of Atlanta-based Road Safe America. “But when more than 400 people are routinely killed in highway crashes involving big trucks every month in the U.S ., year in and year out, there is no similar attention or concern. We must ask ourselves ‘what’s the difference? Aren’t all lives important?’”
Road Safe America calls attention to the results of a national survey showing, not surprisingly, that voters across the United States overwhelmingly support the required use of two safety technologies in big-rigs that can help reduce crashes, injuries and deaths: speed limiters and automatic emergency braking.
The U.S. Congress, Department of Transportation and other federal agencies have it within their power to require use of speed limiters and automatic emergency braking technology on our nation’s big-rigs to help make our highways safer for everyone.
“We all grieve for the 346 who died in those two air crashes, and join in the call for enhanced airliner safety. In the name of the 400 people who will die in big truck crashes every month this year, we call on our U.S. government officials to take action for enhanced highway safety as well,” declared Owings. “This sad double standard cannot continue.”
ABOUT ROAD SAFE AMERICA
Road Safe America is dedicated to reducing the injuries and deaths resulting from collisions between tractor-trailer trucks and passenger vehicles. We are supported by private donations and have no financial ties to any part of the transportation industry. We are not anti-truck or anti-trucker. We are pro-safety. Steve Owings and his wife, Susan, founded Road Safe America in 2003 after their son, Cullum, was killed when his car – stopped in an interstate traffic jam – was crushed from behind by a speeding tractor trailer going well above the posted speed limit on cruise control. Since that tragic event, Steve and Susan, through Road Safe America, have worked to make our highways safer for all travelers.
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