Thursday,
July 17, 2003
Contact: Andy Beck, 202-366-8810
FMCSA 10-02
FMCSA
Reports Trucking Industry Sets Best Safety Record Since First Recorded
Statistics in 1975
Large
truck-related fatalities in 2002 were at their lowest level since the first
recorded statistics in 1975, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced today.
U.S.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was pleased to see the downward trend
in truck-related fatalities, but he re-emphasized his commitment to reducing
deaths and injuries further during an all-hands meeting with NHTSA, the Federal
Highway Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
"It
is time to acknowledge that history is calling us to another important task.
It is the battle to stop the death and injury on our roads and
highways," the Secretary said. "Safety
is the Bush Administration's highest transportation priority and this is
reflected in our surface transportation reauthorization bill."
In
2002, truck-related fatalities decreased 4.2 percent from 2001 figures.
The total number of people killed in truck crashes was 4,897, compared
with 5,111 people in 2001. This is
the fifth consecutive year for decreases in both the large truck fatality rate
and fatalities in large truck-related crashes.
"The FMCSA has aggressively focused its efforts, energy, and
resources toward improving motor-carrier safety and reducing human suffering
caused by commercial-motor-vehicle-related crashes," Acting FMCSA
Administrator Annette Sandberg said. "Working
with law enforcement and our safety and industry partners, we are saving
lives."
SAFETEA
(Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003),
the Bush Administration's surface transportation legislative proposal, would
provide more than $15 billion over six years for highway safety programs.
This is more than double the amount provided by its predecessor, TEA-21
(Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century).
The majority of this funding would be through a new core highway safety
infrastructure program instead of the existing Surface Transportation Program
safety set-aside.
SAFETEA would provide increased funding for commercial vehicle safety and
research programs enhancing the quality, stability, continuity and uniformity of
state commercial vehicle safety and enforcement programs.
In addition, SAFETEA would expand and improve auditing of "new
entrant" motor carriers.
The
FMCSA has a safety goal of reducing the large truck fatality rate by 41 percent
from 1996 to 2008. This reduction
translates into a rate of 1.65 fatalities in truck crashes per 100 million miles
of truck travel.
The
FMCSA gathers truck crash data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
To view these crash statistics on the Internet, go to http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
Under the key-word listing, click on analysis and information on-line.
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