Two weeks ago, TheTruckersReport.com, along with many other industry news sources, reported on a study done by the ATA which claimed that drivers of non-commercial vehicles are found to be a factor in truck/car crashes 81% of the time. The news was surprising to some given the negative view most of the motoring public has of commercial drivers, but it echoed the sentiments that truckers have been expressing for years.
It seems that one group is simply not willing to accept that trucks aren’t speeding deathtraps whose sole purpose is to take the life of the family driving next to them. The Truck Safety Coalition, a joint effort between Parents Against Tired Truckers and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, sent a letter to ATA President Bill Graves and Chairman Dan England claiming that the report they issued “rehashes and misuses old studies in order to blame the drivers of passenger vehicles for causing most two vehicle crashes between light passenger vehicles and large trucks.”
The reason they gave that the information was wrong? “97 percent of the people who die are the occupants of the cars and light trucks.” While that may be true, that does absolutely nothing to refute the claim of who was to be found at fault for the accident. If a car weighs around 3,000 pounds and a fully loaded truck can carry up to 80,000lbs, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the fatalities are generally the occupants of the cars.
The Truck Safety Coalition ended it letter saying that the trucking industry should “stop the cruel public relations game of shifting attention away from the unacceptable death toll caused by big trucks on our nation’s roads.”
If the goal of the Truck Safety Coalition is to save lives, they shouldn’t be reprimanding the ATA, they should be educating the public about how to drive responsibly around trucks. If more people were aware that fatal accidents with trucks are overwhelmingly the fault of the driver of the car, four-wheelers might correct their awful driving habits that are causing these accidents.
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J. Carter says
A-fricken-men!
Paul S. says
Any member of The Truck Safety coalition or P.A.T.T. is more than welcome
to come and take a ride with me for as long as they want. 1st han
d look should change their minds.
Lonnie Roberts says
I extend the same offer. If they actually sat in our seats and seen the way that four wheelers treat us. Of course the occupant of the car or light truck is severally injured or killed. Cars weigh how much versus 80k. That wasn’t hard to logically figure out!
Ron says
Another thought…have you ever heard of a trucker/or trucking companies bringing a lawsuit against the driver of the car who ran into the truck,and killing their passenger/or themselves? That would even the legal playing field.people would think twice about running into a truck,if they knew they would be sued of their neglience.
Rick says
Its the motive..If the motives were correct behind many actions taken by any of our government branches then probably many problems wouldnt exist. But the rhetoric and the actions often dont go hand in hand. More often they contradict themselves. Simply put the public is lied to and mislead to vote on things that arent intended. A pretty cover is put on an alterior motive. We drivers have been financial cows being milked endlessly and theyre pushing it to a point that they risk the industry and our society. Basically driving every legit honest decent driver out of the business and only attracting the bandits who dont give a damn and study the laws and ways around them. When i am pulled into an inspection for overweight and im told pay now or go to jail. I dont care what your story is. Im no fool. Its about taking money. We are making laws to make money. Not to protect the community. Nobody gives a rats ass bout the community. They want the dough. You can talk til you are blue in the face but you wont convince me because the evidence is unweilding. The gravy train thats been created and those who are riding off it. While we put our lives on the line trying to do a service.
John Ciely says
No surprise here.
Willy Wilmette says
Stop the cruel public relations game of shifting attention away from the unacceptable death toll caused by little 4 wheelers!
Daniel Steele says
Why is it that they are overlooking that big picture. Push push push….I say lets shut em down for a few days and maybe the so called shot callers will listen. Need to get them to notice us and listen, and stop dictating over something they have no clue
Christopher Potvin says
You know…How can people be that stupid? As long as P.A.T.T. and CRASH and the others have been lobbying against everything We do to try to make a decent living,,,,They should know about our Industry more than We do! But what you have is a group(LARGE) group of uneducated People who are used to having the Spot light on them and everytime that Spot light starts to Dim, they have to get back in it. Look at the FMSCA, a Prime example. Almost every single stat in Trucking was Down. The number of crashes were up, but when the increased number of trucks and Cars were factored in, they actually down as per crash vs number of drivers on road. Fatalities were Down.
But they still had to overhaul the enire thing because OH MY GOD, A driver could actually drive another 10 hours if he worked his clock PERFECTLY and then did a 34 hour restart at the PERFECT time.
There isn’t and wasn’t one Driver fooled by that. They were in a postion where they were becoming obsolete. They needed to have another reason to exist. Even if EOBR were mandated tomorrow and every Truck had them by years end. If Drivers were only allowed to work 8 hours a day and had to take 16 hours off. Even if Trucks had their own dedicated lanes. Even if We were forced to drive at night so We were away from all the cars.
They would still be changing our rules. PATT and CRASH would still be there and they would still have something to bitch about.
They won’t ever get into a Truck, because it doesn’t suit their agenda. They want THEIR way or no way. There is no compromise with Trucking. They would be polite to the Driver and may even have a good time with Him/Her out driving. But the second they get out of the vehicle, They would go back to plotting. All they have to do is cry out,”It’s for the Children” and every uneducated Boob with shooting distance comes out of the woodwork and because they have seen an episode of Oprah regarding a truck, then they immediately become a victim and want to have a voice too. An uneducated and biased voice
John hickman says
Main problem truckers don’t want nobody telling them what to do an when don’t want to listen to God who said she obey the laws of the land and Romans 12:20 obey those in government in charge of you now show me in bible where it tells us we can disobey our laws you can’t all it about is meme me meme that what you get when you hate
George says
Wrong the Bible does say that you should follow the laws of the land unless it contradicts the laws of God just a little FYI for you
John Little says
First of all, I retired from over the road trucking after almost 40 years in Dec. 2011.
And I’m glad I’m out of it.
I have been watching / reading the posts on this site and many others.
It all comes down to one thing.
The Driver !
When I began in this industry (1972) we (truck drivers) were looked up to, respected and could hold our heads high knowing we were needed and respected for what we did.
Truckers were a completely different type of individual back then, compared to some of the so-called truck drivers out there today.
Yes, there are still a lot of great drivers out there, a great bunch of people both men and women doing their best to get the job done in a professional manner, treating others as they expect to be treated and acting, looking and being professional truck drivers.
You’ve all heard the old adage ‘One bad apple…….’.
There are far too many drivers out there (“Steering wheel holders”) that could care less about the industry, the way they look and dress, their truck, let alone have any respect for anyone else, and that is what the public sees, that one “Bad apple”.
We’ve all seen them, they pee in milk jugs and toss the jug out the window, they pee on their truck tires in the truck stop parking lot (200′ from the restroom) and carelessly toss trash bags 10′ from the trash barrel.
The public sees all this in fact, they SMELL it !
Take a real look at the truck stops. Would you want one in your back yard ? Do you really think the public doesn’t see it ?
Do you really think the public approves of it or has any respect for the drivers that do it ?
There’s an article in this site about Warner Robins, Ga, and how they don’t want truckers hanging around their town, I don’t blame them.
The same with a lot of the Wal-Marts around the country.
They used to allow truckers to park in their lots, until the trash got too deep.
The pee bottles, the garbage, the literal filth !
And truckers today expect to be treated with respect, give me a break !
Again, and I reiterate, not all truck drivers are like that, and likely as not the largest percentage of the truck driving community is not that way, it’s those ‘bad apples’ that are making it bad for all.
Well, all this has nothing to do with the story at hand and, maybe I shouldn’t have posted my rant here but, I just wanted to make the point that those who are against the trucking industry have no respect for the American trucker, and are listened to by the higher-ups because the image of the trucker is so poor.
When the truckers begin to look and act as professionals, an I do mean LOOK the part, maybe the image will change, and respect will be regained.
And again, for those of you who will think I’m picking on all truckers, not all truckers are that way, MOST are professional, hard working, respectable individuals who have respect for themselves and others and are doing their very best to give trucking a better image.
It is the bad apples, as I’ve defined earlier, that are giving the trucking industry a bad image in the public’s view.
And it can be changed. Truckers need to become aware of the goings on at truck stops, on the highways and elsewhere, and stop being so blind / ignorant of the problem.
And I might make note too of the need for some of the drivers posting, please proof read and use spell check !
There may be one of the PATT or CRASH people reading these, and by reading miss spelled words, and senseless gibberish only goes to add fuel to their efforts to make the industry look bad.
Andrew says
I have to agree with your statement.
And many of these bad apples you speak of come from the negligence of larger companies.
I drive for Werner (great company to me, but this is an unbiased observation), and I’ve noticed that them, along with many other large companies, just hire anybody who can drive. They don’t actually screen these people as deeply as they should and let anyone with a CDL regardless of experience onto the road.
And many of these, develop habits in which you’ve described. Including poor habits on the road that cause some of these tractor trailer/motorist collisions. If we factor them out and just leave the owner operators and small companies, we have virtually little to no problems, because to be an owner operator or to get into these smaller companies, you need experience, good appearance, decent personality, and a will to work as well as discipline.
But the growing number of “4 Wheelers” doesn’t help either. I absolutely hate big cities and the coasts because motorists are oblivious to truck drivers. Northeast especially bad to me (any of the 13 colony states I hate with a passion).
Combine that with undisciplined truck drivers, you have a recipe for disaster.
There is so much going on, and I’m a fairly new driver myself of 2 years, that we could rant about. But I guess we need to just keep on truckin until it gets unbearable.
helpu megod says
John Little: Thank you for your input as a retired professional driver.
I am NOT a trucker, but I do have friends who are. So I am NOT antagonistic toward truckers.
John Little’s “bad apple” concept is correct! 81% of accidents are due to 4-wheelers, thus,
19% are due to truckers. Probably the truckers which drive on the bumper of the slower moving vehicle. The truckers which barrel through lights which have turned yellow. The truckers which change traffic lanes rather frequently. The truckers who are quick to blow their horns. The truckers who run in caravans and force faster moving cars to try to squeeze in between trucks.
I can go on and on, and go into other areas which John Little talked about, but I won’t.
19% of accidents are due to “PROFESSIONAL truckers”.
Honestly speaking. Since truckers are PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS, I would expect the figure should be over 90%+ of accidents are due to 4-wheelers. You all giving yourself a pat on the back for being part of a profession which creates 1 out of 5 accidents makes me want to puke. I truly wish Congress would create a stronger freight rail system in the country.
In the business world, it is well known that an industry or profession should manage/take care of itself. If not, the government will come in and make a mess of it and create paper work galore.
Blair says
And good luck getting your gas and groceries delivered via rail….I can see that train pulling right up to Von’s (Or ARCO in my case)..Shill..You don’t drive, so troll for the rail somewhere else.
Jason says
Very true. This although I think the 81% is a bit low. Theyre not compensating for stupid leo’s that give tickets during fatality accidents just to make the family of the person that passed feel better.
Also to your statement helpu megod about, trucks changing lanes, riding bumpers, blowing horns, and concoying forcing 4 wheelers to cut in.
1. What were not allowed to pass in the hammer lane which requires a lane change? So sorry were not like idiot 4 wheelers that are in such a big hurry they’ll pass on the shoulder.
2.Did you ever stop to think that maybe 90% of the rear end collisions are still the fault of the 4 wheeler for cutting off a truck then slowing down? Happens to me daily hmmm…technically speaking thats the 4 wheelers fault not the truckers.
3. So its okay for a 4 wheeler to sit there and honk at me when I cant make a turn because I cant make the corner but I cant lay on my air horn when they cut me off or theyre weaving all over down the highway? And by the way I layed on my horn in Hastings the other night because I had to swing wide and some Idiot 4wheeler cut inside my turn the people with 4 wheels arent fighting a clock like truckers and theyre still in a bigger hurry makes a lot of sense dont it. Anyway I’ll use that horn whenever I deem it necessary weather period!
4. We convoy because they turn the trucks down so far its easier just to get out there and follow. How many times have you seen a line of 20 or 30 cars going down the interstate passing a truck that has his turn signal on so he can pass? They dont let us in why should we let them in?
5.Your light running statement has no value what so ever. The law states if I do NOT have enough distance to make a safe stop I CAN run the light. I have run yellows even a couple reds because I couldnt stop in time. As long as I hit the air horn its not illegal.. And fyi I see more cars run lights than trucks so I believe I have just shredded your post. Good day sir and please stay off the roads they will be much safer without you on them.
And you can haul freight on the rails but itll never get there on time. And the railroad has a worse safety rating and is more unsafe than trucks will ever be so that point is so invalid its not even funny see a lot of rail cars with graffiti all over them…just think of how easy itd be for them to walk up to a stopped train and open tank cars full of chlorine rail roads arent safe period. Keep the freight on the highways where it belongs!
Bernard Proper says
Wow…what a bunch of sheep. Hey, dum dums, read the actual letter that was written to the ATA and then think about this. Is the ATA normally your friend or foe. As a member of OOIDA I have to say I am very suspicious of any propaganda the ATA releases. If OOIDA gives their support for anything the ATA puts forth…I get a lot more suspicious. Read, do your research. Form an informed opinion. IMHO ATA LIED.
mike c says
More like, “overwhelmingly”…deadly! Maybe that would change their driving habits.
Ashley says
Ok so is it the engineer who is driving the trains fault if a 4 wheeler races to get in front of the train over the tracks and ends up killing everyone in the vehicle? Seems to be the logic they are using. Car vs Train….car disentagrates train is at fault :/
driver says
So let’s take the big trucks out of the equation. Everybody shut em down. No food deliveries,beer, cars, diapers, nothing. Trucks are the very life blood of the infrastructure. Shut off the blood and everything dies quickly. Want to get attention? Shut the damn things down for a week. No deaths from the behemoths, and lots of empty gas tanks, bellies, car dealerships, ….. etc. Like the old saying goes.”If you can’t eat, you can’t poop. If you can’t poop,you can’t eat.” Everybody that’s not a driver thinks they can starve a driver out by limiting them on miles. Ok, fair enough, but how many people can we as drivers starve out by limiting their supply. Stop talking and whining about things. Shut the damn things down until someone on the other side caves in due to lack of goods. Maybe Joe Schmuck speeding up the moron merge ramp without a clue will take notice next time and actually learn what merge is and how to do it rather than laughing into his damn cell phone to his buddy about how he just cut off a dumb ass truck driver. I’ll say one thing. These bs “studies” do not take into consideration how many lives are saved because of a driver. Drivers run of the road rather than kill a dumb ass that thinks the phone is more important than driving, but drives just to have something to do. AND … invariably, it’s the driver’s fault for running off the road to save a potential death by running over the dumb ass. Listen up PATT and all you other misguided idiots that have nothing better to do. We DRIVE the economy of this country. It’s called commerce, look it up. Google is your friend and you are more than welcome for the computer you bought off the shelf that allows you to do that. We delivered it especially for you.
Blair says
I agree. I’m a union driver for BP (British Petroleum). And union, non union/whatever, we need to get people’s attention. I know this issue has been beaten to death in the past, but when do we say enough is enough ? Can you imagine if ALL the fuel haulers decided to “take few days off”.? Within 24 hours, you would notice a big change in attitude.
Steve hines says
It only takes one swift driver to ruin it for all of us
Blair says
Yes, SPEND THE DAY WITH ME-as I deliver gasoline and fuels on the freeways of Southern California. Watch as utterly insane “motorists” cut me off with less than a foot to spare. Watch as these same “motorists” tailgate my rear trailer. Watch them engage in their stupid on/off ramp games without a care in the world if I go up in flames along with everyone on the freeway..Come on “Truck Safety Coalition”…ride with me and see how it REALLY IS. Sure, truck drivers are far from perfect, but by and large, it’s the deliberate, selfish actions (all that “ME FIRST” crap) of people in CARS that have caused several of my long time friends to die, or be disabled in horrific accidents caused by CARS.
Karen Morris says
Ok, they complained that the high fatality rate was due to trucks weighing more than cars, but they didn’t dispute the fact that cars driving wrecklessly was the reason the accident occured in the first place. So what are they complaining about? If they want us to say that people died because they challenged an 80K vehicle by driving wrecklessly, then, OK.
Karen Morris says
I got a idea! Let’s demand that each state make car drivers go through the same qualifications to drive as big trucks! Make them take drug tests, pass 200 question license tests, make them give a total inspection of their vehicle and tell why its important to maintain it, pull cars over to do surprise safety inspections; lets make them take physicals and eye screening. Better yet, lets make each member of the Parents Against Tired Truckers do exactly what we do to prove we are ready, fit and able to drive before we get behind the wheel, and see just how much they do to protect us against them and their terrible driving habits
Karen Morris says
In addition, if truckers have to do all these tests every two years, then the general motoring public should do the same. If states are in need of cash, this is a great way to generate new revenue.
Karen Morris says
Also, I would like to see that car drivers maintain an electronic log book to prove they have not driven over 10 hours in one driving stretch. I’m sure states can do that, right.
Karen Morris says
I can prove these groups would violate their logbook every day if told to drive 11 hours a shift.
1. They get up in the morning and ready themselves for work. Then they drive to work, let’s say it had taken them 45 min.
2. They get to their job and worked 10 hours that day, let’s say from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
Ok, they have to log on duty for 10 hours and add hours driven to work of 45 min.:
Total = 10.45 hrs.
3. Now they need to drive home, but wait! They don’t have enough time to get home! They need to find a place to stop and take a 10 hour break before they can go home.
No stopping to pick the kids up from band practice or sports events, no stopping at the store for a gallon of milk. They must stop now or be in violation of their log hours. But will they think this is ridiculous, will they try to “fudge” a little to squeeze in that last few minutes to make it home? No, because they know the law and that would be illegal, right?
Donna VanScoyk says
I have driven 40 yrs., it has always been our fault and it always will be. The powers that be has always had a bone to pick with us. In the state of Ca. the CARB people [clean air resources board] has decided if you bought a $180,000 dollar trk. 4 yrs. ago in 4 yrs. you have to buy a new one or “Take you dirty trk. and leave the state” and that’s is a quote at the meeting in the capital. they don’t care about your families, your homes, what you have invested in this state, or your future, just take your dirty trk. and leave. Work 50 yrs. and pay their salaries and you can just “Leave.” How sad. But on the other hand iron is very cheap here boys and girls, even refers. Can’t work here, it has to leave, good iron going cheap so if you have been kicking around the idea of having your own, here you go..put the fun back into your run and be safe…DV
Donna VanScoyk says
Here’s a funny thought boys and girls, I ran otr 22 yrs. 17 1/2 of it pulling refer…I ..just..wonder,..hummmm how are they going to get their produce out now? ha ha
Carl says
Why doesnt the DOT make a manditory test for Commercial Vehicle Driving Awarness for these Geniuses in automobiles? They have no idea of the limitations of a 70 ft long 84000 lb vehicle like stopping, turning radiuses, blindspots, etc. You give yourself enough stopping distance and 15 cars fill that space. You get rear ended by some broad on a cell phone and you get the ticket! Your doing 55 down a state hwy and some genius thinks he can out run you from a dead stop when he turns from a county rd. We as drivers are put on the spot every second that we are behind the wheel. Why dont you put the blame where it belongs? On the (Populas Moronicus) common name the self centered American Driver. Come on people take responsibility for your and your kids safety!!!
tim says
careless driving from semi or 4 wheelers spell nothing but trouble i hate all drivers who dont take driving a serious a resposnibilty..
Outlaw says
Truck drivers should respect the law; after all that log book will keep you “safe” and everybody knows that all four wheelers are the “safest” drivers on the road. The truckers are too often just trying to bully their way in traffic when they should “give way” to the openly harassed poor four wheelers who don’t need special laws to tell them how to behave on the road. Lazy truckers even need special people call “Dispatchers” to “help” them find the freight and get it to the receiver on time. The truck drivers are of such low quality that there seems to be a constant shortage of good “professional” drivers although a few “good” trucking companies such as Snyder, Swift, and Werner are striving to fill the gap. DOT is beginning to recognize and straighten out many of those “bad” truckers. They can’t keep good records but seem to be responsible enough to drive from coast to coast in varying weather conditions under terrific stress while being preyed upon by numerous unsavory characters; in my book I call them heroes but what do I know … i’m just a low life “TRUCKER”!
harleigh says
why is it that people always say that its all truck drivers faults? most accidents that involve cars are not the truckers fault, most likley it is the car drivers fault. there are so many truckers out there that risk there lives for all of us and some times get killed because of it. for example my dad is a truck driver and just the other week he all most died because of some carless car driver. what people dont realize is that the trucks are driving with tons of material on them and its like people think that the truckers should just stop for them. i just think that people need to think more about what truckers are doing for them and stop blaiming them for everything.