Security & Safety Briefs - Sept. 29 - Oct. 5
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The Latest Headlines:
- ATA Files Crash-Avoidance Comments With NHTSA
- DOT Reports Record Seat-Belt Usage of 82%
- ATA Announces $4.8 Mln. Highway Watch Grant
- Ky. Using Fences to Catch Falling Boulders
- ATA Seeks Clarification on Md. Security Plans
- DOT Reports Record Seat-Belt Usage of 82%
ATA Files Crash-Avoidance Comments With NHTSA
American Trucking Associations submitted comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in response to its request for information on the performance of advanced crash-avoidance systems.Technologies such as roll stability control, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and tire pressure monitoring, among others, are discussed in the request for information.
ATA’s comments are posted on its Web site, www.truckline.com. Transport Topics
DOT Reports Record Seat-Belt Usage of 82%
A record 82% of Americans wear their safety belts while driving or riding in their vehicles, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Friday.Speaking at the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s national conference in Washington, Mineta said that according to DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 10% of non-users between 2004 and 2005 adopted the habit of buckling their safety belts.
In the past five years, safety belt use increased from 71% to 82% this year, he said.
Mineta said safety belts prevent 15,700 fatalities, 350,000 serious injuries, and $67 billion in economic costs associated with traffic injuries and deaths every year.
The increase in belt use over the past year has prevented 540 fatalities, 8,000 serious injuries, and $1.8 billion in economic costs, he said. Transport Topics
ATA Announces $4.8 Mln. Highway Watch Grant
American Trucking Associations and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) announced Thursday an additional $4.8 million grant for ATA’s Highway Watch program. The funds will be available for use in March 2006, ATA said.Under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, ATA, through the Highway Watch program, trains highway professionals to identify and report safety and security concerns on roads.
“Highway Watch plays an important role in the ongoing war on terrorism,” said Rogers, who chairs a House subcommittee on homeland security.
The program prepares hundreds of thousands of transportation professionals to respond in the event they or their cargo are the target of a terrorist attack and to share valuable intelligence with DHS if they witness any potential threats. Transport Topics
Ky. Using Fences to Catch Falling Boulders
A $6 million project to build a rock-catching fence to keep boulders from smashing into cars and trucks on a stretch of highway south of Pikeville, Ky., has proven effective, the Associated Press reported.The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, trying to minimize the risk of rock falls in the mountain region, tested the fence on a mile-long stretch of U.S. Route 23, which intersects with Interstate 64 to the north, AP reported.
Before the fence was constructed, rocks and debris were constant threats to motorists on the four-lane stretch of highway, AP said.
The project involved moving a mile of the highway about 15 feet away from the high rock wall, at a cost of about $5 million, and installing a fence that cost $1 million. The 10-foot-high fence is capable of stopping rocks weighing up to a ton, even when they roll into it at 40 mph. Transport Topics
ATA Seeks Clarification on Md. Security Plans
American Trucking Associations has filed comments with the Maryland Department of Environment seeking clarification of its Notice of Proposed Action to require certain facilities to develop written security plans and submit them to the department for review.The proposal would require affected facilities to register and pay a $2,500 registration fee.
ATA said it seeks to ensure that the proposal does not apply to motor carriers transporting hazardous materials and has informed MDE that these carrier-owned facilities already have written security plans as required by the federal hazardous materials regulations. Transport Topics
