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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
“AMERICA NEEDS YOU. BUCKLE UP”
MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY BELT PARTNERSHIP
ATLANTA, GA
DECEMBER 9, 2003
11 AM
Good morning. I would like to thank our host, Roadway
Express, for allowing us to use this most impressive facility.
Governor Bill Graves of the American Trucking Associations, Tim Lynch of the
Motor Freight Carriers Association, Gary Petty of the National Private Truck
Council, Jim Johnston of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association,
Steve Campbell of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and all of the leaders
and members of the trucking industry who are here today, welcome. And thank you
for helping us to launch an historic – and live-saving – partnership. I also
want to welcome Congressman Mac Collins, who was elected in 1992.
I want to begin this morning by sharing with you an alarming statistic. Thanks
to the comprehensive study that Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration
Administrator Annette Sandberg referred to, we now know that only 48 percent of
commercial vehicle drivers wear safety belts.
Let’s put that figure in perspective.
Through the aggressive and determined leadership of the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration and its Administrator, Dr. Jeff Runge, safety belt use is
up to 79 percent nationwide – an all-time high.
But most – indeed, more than half – of the truck drivers on the road today are
not wearing safety belts.
It is puzzling to me why professional truck drivers are among the least likely
to wear safety belts when they are behind the wheel. Their risk is higher
simply because they spend so much more time than the rest of us on the road.
There seems to be a myth out there that the “big rig” itself will provide all
the safety that is needed, so there’s no point in bothering with a safety belt.
The facts suggest otherwise.
Last year, 588 commercial motor vehicle drivers lost their lives in crashes.
Over half of them were not wearing their safety belts.
And of the 171 drivers who were ejected from their trucks, as you would expect,
almost 80% of them were not wearing safety belts.
So, if you are one of the more than five-and-a-half million truck drivers who
choose not to wear your safety belt, I have a message for you. Uncle Sam wants
you – no, needs you – to buckle up!
It could save your life – or the lives of other motorists – if you and your rig
are involved in a crash.
With the agreement that the U.S. Department of Transportation is signing today
with the trucking industry, we are launching the broadest effort this country
has ever seen to get truckers to wear their safety belts.
This is a full-court press. The trucking industry is united behind it. And I
am fully committing the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Building on NHTSA’s success with the driving public, we will apply our energy
and expertise to getting truckers to buckle up.
Truckers play a vital role in our economy. Each year, they move over seven
trillion dollars in clothes, food, and everyday products safely across our
highways.
We value the work that they do. They have played a significant role in getting
the economy rolling these past few months, and the positive impact is being felt
across the Nation.
To help keep the economy rolling, we need these drivers to “keep on trucking.”
And we want them to return home safely to their families at the end of their
runs.
President Bush has made safety our highest transportation priority.
And safety belts are the best protection available in the event of a crash.
They improve safety, preventing injury and death.
That applies if you are in a car, if you are in a mini-van or SUV, and yes, it
applies when you’re in an 18-wheeler.
The trucking industry has already made tremendous progress, reducing
large-truck-related fatalities for five consecutive years. But we are still
losing too many good people.
So today, we are raising the safety bar up another rung by urging America’s
truckers to buckle up.
I thank all of our partners for their outstanding leadership. And now, I would
like to invite Tim Lynch to make a few brief remarks on behalf of the trucking
industry.
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