Jesse Tudela, G12, Fall 1999, 459, Oral Report 2

They go by the name as the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. This group is an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups, and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer. The Advocates encourages the adoption of federal and state laws, policies, and programs that save lives and reduce injuries. By implementing their resources with other groups, the Advocates helps build coalitions to increase participation of a wide array of groups in public policy initiatives which advance highway and auto safety.

The Advocates was founded in 1989 by the heads of a number of major property and casualty insurance companies and several prominent consumer and safety leaders. The Advocates' Board of Directors is made up of equal numbers of insurance and agents' organizations and consumer, safety and law enforcement groups. The insurer members provide the financial resources of Advocates, but both groups share the responsibility for establishing program and policy priorities. All members provide expertise, outreach to constituents, research and other assistance to help the organization achieve its goals.

At their web site, one can find all sort of safety policy statements. They are the following:

According to the Advocates, their two great strengths are "its single-minded dedication to the adoption of public policies that save lives, prevent injuries and reduce costs, and the diversity of organizational support for its mission and in its membership." Combining the expertise, resources and commitment of the property/casualty insurance industry and consumer and safety organizations, the Advocates plays a dynamic role in developing legislative and regulatory policies, expanding public understanding of highway and auto safety issues, and encouraging coalition efforts to further reduce the devastating human and economic costs of death and injury on America's roadways.

Antilock brakes are effective in preventing wheel lock and loss of steering control during an emergency stop especially on wet roads. In fact, antilock brakes also help the driver keep better control of the vehicle in a skid and at times help prevent a motor vehicle like a truck from rolling over on its side during a crash.

Goal: "The Advocates believes that antilock brakes should be incorporated in all passenger cars and required in all commercial vehicles, including trucks."

Currently, truck cabs do not meet safety standards for passenger cars, including occupant protection standards requiring the installation of air bags and 3-point seat belts. Many lives are lost due to that safety standards are not met.

Goal: "The Advocates supports standards that increase the crash worthiness of truck cabs through improvements to interior features of cabs and cab integrity, as well as requiring occupant restraints and three-point safety belt systems."

It was not until the implementation of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 that truck drivers were finally prohibited to acquire more than one drivers licenses. This act limits commercial drivers to only one drivers license which comes from the individuals home state. Also, the act increases that uniformity among the states testing and licensing programs. Finally, the act creates a national network allowing states to quickly check drivers record.

Goal: "Advocates supports the Commercial Drivers License program and the national network that allows prompt and effective tracking of the driving records of commercial drivers and the prompt license suspension of serious offenders. Advocates strongly opposes efforts to allow any additional exemptions from the program other than those allowed under the original legislation."

Radar detectors are electronic devices used by motorists for one purpose, which is to break the law via speeding. Studies have shown that truck drivers in particular use radar detectors in great numbers. Virginia and the District of Columbia have laws banning radar detectors altogether. Illinois and New York have outlawed the devices in trucks.

Goal: "Advocates supports state laws banning radar detectors in all vehicles, and supports banning the devices in commercial vehicles."

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently rule proposals that will weaken the stringency of motor carrier safety requirements for hours of service and driver qualifications. Some of the proposals would decrease federal oversight of both trucks and drivers by eliminating certain reporting requirements. On-board recorders that track the hours of operation of heavy trucks help to enforce hours-of-service regulations and reduce crashes due to driver fatigue. The Advocates plan to investigate the entire body of the Federal Motor Carrier safety Regulations.

Goal: "The Advocates opposes any weakening of current federal rules on hours of service, driver qualifications and vehicle safety measures. Advocates supports requiring on-board recorders to keep automatic records of truck operations."

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), each year more than four billion tons of hazardous materials are hauled on U.S. roadways, some 500,000 daily shipments. In 1990, DOT received reports of about 8,500 mishaps in these shipments. Gasoline, diesel and fuel oil shipments compromise more than 95 percent of all hazardous materials trips in the U.S. The federal government should establish standards for the transport of non-radioactive hazardous materials, especially of combustible fuels by tank trucks.

Goal: "Advocates supports rigorous standards for the transportation of hazardous materials to assure adequate protection for those transporting such materials and other highway users. "

Since the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) was established in 1982, the number of trucks inspected for conformance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations has been increased by a factor of ten. However, the percentage of carriers and drivers receiving out-of-service citations has not decreased. Almost one-third of the inspections result in citations for vehicle equipment or hours of service violations. In addition, the program inspects only a small minority of the trucks on the road. Also. overweight and oversized vehicles violating federal and state restrictions continue to endanger other highway users and inflict enormous damage to our roads and bridges.

Goal: "Advocates urges strengthening the MCSAP program at both the federal and state level to increase the number of vehicles and drivers inspected and to decrease the percentage of out-of-service violations. Advocates supports the extension of the MCSAP program to include MCSAP size and weight inspection and certification actions and supports full funding and implementation of these provisions."

Since the 1940s, regulations governing truck lighting requirements for both cab and cargo unit are inadequate and have not changed. Many drivers, especially the elderly with lower contrast sensitivity and poorer night vision, do not detect trucks in enough time to avoid crashes. Improvements to truck cab and trailer lighting and reflectivity will increase their visibility and prevent crashes by providing early detection and recognition of trucks by motorists.

Goal: "Advocates supports federal rules improving truck exterior lighting and establishing an easily-visible lighting "signature" for trucks to improve motorist detection and judgment of the presence, speed and headway of trucks."

Over the past four decades, the United States has increasingly relied on truck transportation to move both industrial and consumer goods. The creation of the Interstate Highway System facilitated a vast increase in truck commerce, and has resulted in Congressional approval for larger, longer and heavier vehicles on the nation's highways. At the same time, the average size and weight of passenger vehicles has declined, making the vehicle mix more disparate and contributing to the highway safety problem. When tractor-trailers are operated in an unsafe manner, other motorists are likely to be the victims. Of the 5,031 people who died in large truck crashes in 1996, only 12% were truck occupants. In crashes involving a large truck and a passenger vehicle, 98% of the fatalities were the occupants of cars, vans, pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles. Multi-trailer trucks are involved in much more serious crashes than single-unit trucks or typical tractor-trailer combinations because of their tendencies to jackknife, rollover, and suffer trailer separations.

Goal: "The Advocates supports the legislated "freeze" on the spread of these Longer Combination Vehicles such as Turnpike Doubles and Triple-Trailers outside the states where they currently operate. Advocates also opposes attempts at the state or federal levels to increase the maximum sizes and weights of commercial vehicles and supports efforts to control truck sizes and weights in order to enhance highway safety."

Adequate tires on heavy trucks are essential to assure the consistent and safe operation of heavy trucks, prevent the need for emergency handling procedures due to tire blow-outs, and to minimize damage from wear and tear on roadways.

Goal: "Advocates supports requirements to upgrade the quality and reliability of truck tires (e.g., carcass design and tread depth) to improve skid resistance, stopping performance and fuel efficiency per payload, to mitigate damage to highway pavement and to assure the optimal performance of antilock brake systems."

In 1989, approximately 700 passenger car and light truck fatalities were due to side and rear impacts with large trucks. Small vehicles involved in side- and rear- crashes with large trucks have much higher than average frequency of serious physical injury. The front ends of passenger vehicles often slide underneath the cargo units of large trucks; in some cases, the passenger compartment is sheared off. Passenger vehicles are also subject to front underride of large trucks as well as rear override by large trucks; both situations result in serious injuries and fatalities to occupants of the passenger vehicles. Truck underride and override guards can substantially mitigate the severity of passenger vehicles-large truck crashes.

Goal: "TheAdvocates supports federal requirements that underride protection be installed on large trucks. This protection should begin with energy-absorbing rear underride guards that are adequate for preventing passenger vehicles from underriding large trucks. These guards should be required to meet dynamic performance standards. Advocates supports NHTSA research into and consideration of protective guards to prevent side underride, front underride and truck override protection."

I felt more comfortable this time when I did this extra credit oral presentation. I was not that nervous as the first oral presentation. I really had my composer down. Probably too, the topic was not that intimidating and was relatively common sense understanding. I am happy to do this extra credit oral report.

In terms of the overall information given by the Advocates, I believe it is good to read and informative one way or the other for safety. However, I don't know how relevant and valid was the information. In fact, I thought that a lot of the informations were outdated and maybe overexaggerated. I wonder how often does the group update their web site.

I also thought the some of the policy statements were a bit vague. I don't know if the group intentionally made it that way or the policy itself was vague already. For instance, the policy on Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations was not clear or specifics that the group were talking about "reporting requirements". I was lost at that point in time. Thus, I think that Advocates should be more specific on what are the requirements so readers can understand.

Otherwise, the Advocates web site was okay. It could be better but one must consider the financial restraints and other barriers to the improvement of the site. I wish though that their policy be more up-to-date and specific about truck safety. However, I do recommend this site for anyone interested about highway and auto safety issues.

1. What ideas are there to make the roads safer that you can think of that are not on this web site (www.saferroads.org)?

1. I think there should be govenors (speed restrictor) installed in all the trucks and possibly all passenger cars. This should make the roads safer by preventing speeding and reckless driving on the roads. This is all I could think of to make the roads safer which the web site did not discuss.

2. The most interesting thing that I found on this web site was about the speeding and the truck safety policies. I was astonished with all the information provided at this site. I only wish they presented the policies with greater details, but it was okay.

2. How much would it cost for an antilock breaks to be installed in an 18 wheeler truck?

1. Prior to having such policies, trucks in the United States did not have antilock brakes. The Canadian trucks had antilock brakes installed already. The Americans thought that the antilock brakes did not work. However, antilock brakes now have shown to be very effective in preventing wheel lock.. So today, I believe that all American trucks have antilock brakes installed because of the policy.

2. I don't know how much a pair of antilock brakes cost to be installed in an 18 wheeler truck. I would have to do some searches on the internet to get you that answer. I can say that it is very expensive. Try ask a trucking company on island about the cost.

3. I believe that antilock brakes helps in preventing wheel lock and loss of steering on the road. Why? There are some studies that showed antilock brakes being very effective. I am not skeptic about the study at all because majority of the studies too were done by federal government officials. I fully trust their judgement.

1. From reading the policies and the composition of the group, I don't think that the Advocates have the support of the Teamsters Union. There was nothing mention about any union, but who knows, they might be.

2. Yes, truckers are required by law to wear seat belts. I think that the point the Advocates were pushing for was that truckers need more and stronger seat belt restraints. Buckling up is mandatory as far as I know.

1. Would a ticket in one state hold in court if the driver is from another state where that law doesn't exist?

1. I think that the ticket will hold in court even if the driver is from another state where the law is unheard of. The violation was done in that state so the driver must be charge no matter what. I think it is only fair. There should be policies on this kind of situation in the court.

1. I think that two sides of the debate over antilock brake systems is that its expensive and it saves lives. The other side is that its not reliable and dangerous when not use appropriately. For me, I am on the expensive and save life side. I think that the benefits of antilock brakes outweight the consequences. I wish I could tell you more, but I am not the expert. I might be even wrong.

2. What kind of training (CDL) do truck drivers need? Are they getting it? Why or why not?

1. Advocacy groups are important because for some odd reasons, they seem to be on the people's side about concerning issues. However, when the debate is over, the advocacy group changes its route. They influence the people via advertising and protesting for human cause. Also, I think most advocacy group are financially secure that people want to join in for the power and glory. All in all, their influence are mainly good people skills and concerns for the human race.

2. I am not sure what kind of CDL training truckers receive or even need. However, I think truckers should get the toughest CDL training because of the big rigs they go with on the road. Years of trianing is needed. Probably even have the truckers go on a monthly routine drive along testing with a supervisor. I am positive that the truckers are not getting the desired CDL training. Why? First of, the truckers are noncompliant to such demanding test. Second, the trucking companies don't want to spend any more or less money for safety. It all comes down to ignorance on the drivers and the truck owners.

Only several of my peers attempted to do an extra credit oral report write up. By the looks of it, I am probably the first one to fully upload a second oral report. I know that the rest of my peers will do a good job. It was a lot of work but they will get through.

I cannot stress enough that starting early is very important. Having a game plan ahead of time will only benefit you, the individual. Time is your enemy and you must use it wisely because by the time you know it, the semester is all over. Be very, very creative because it counts and it does make your web page more appealing for others to see. Since this oral presentation report was an extra credit, I encourage all of you guys and gals to take the opportunity to do it especially if you are border line between letter grades. You all have nothing to lose. Like Nike's slogan, "Just Do It". By the way, make sure you are having fun while doing this write up because it makes life more easy and simple. And if any of you run into problems doing this report, please always seek help because it only will benefit you in the long run.

Jesse's Second Oral Presentation