Stop and Read This About New NHTSA Trucking Rules...
Posted by Karen Thomas on Sun, Jul 26, 2009 @ 03:52 PM
Brake for this: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed new braking standers for large trucks.
Despite reports that large commercial vehicles have shown a decrease in their involvement in fatal crashes, the NHTSA still found cause to enforce even more stringent braking standards to improve this trend even more. According to the NHTSA, last year 4,229 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks, which is down 12 percent from the 4,822 deaths recorded in 2007.
Braking - and braking quickly - is an inevitable situation for any truck driver due to increased traffic, rocky roads, tumultuous weather, last minute lane changes, and more. Statistics show that most trucking accidents are caused by brake failures and defective tires. According to the Department of Transportation, 29.4% of all large truck crashes involved brake failure, brakes out of adjustment, or other brake-related issues.
While maintenance is critical to ensuring a truck can operate at peak condition, safety standards go a step further.
The NHTSA issued a new braking standard that is intended to save lives by improving large truck stopping distance by 30 percent. Specifically, a tractor-trailer traveling at a speed of 60 miles and hour must be able to stop completely at 250 feet - 155 feet less than the previous standard.
The Projections:
The NHTSA estimates that, "the new braking rAAequirement will save 227 lives annually, and will also prevent 300 serious injuries. It is estimated to reduce property damage costs by over $169 million annually," (www.nhtsa.gov).
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