Fwd: Wednesday: Media Conference Call on controversial tired trucker provisions in US DOT funding bills on Senate Floor and House Committee

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Media Conference Call Announced for tomorrow to Stop Congress Attacking Truck Safety.  See below to join call.

For many tragic reasons why see list of crash victims at

For State by State Rankings in 2013 from Worst (North Dakota) to Best (Massachusetts) see
http://trucksafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/sts2015-state-rankings-ncas.pdf

MEDIA ADVISORY: Media Conference Call – Wed. May 18, 2016 at 10:00am ET

Contact: Bill Bronrott, 202-270-4415, bronrott@gmail.com

 

Victims of Tired Trucker Crashes in ME, AL, GA and IL to Join Truck Driver and

Safety Advocates to Call on Congress to Stop the Attacks on Truck Safety

 

Tired Trucker Provisions in Transportation Spending Bills on Senate Floor This Week,

Scheduled for Mark-Up Wednesday in House Appropriations Subcommittee.  

Both Bills Repeal Obama Administration Hours of Service Rule for Truck Drivers.

 

No Congressional Hearings, No Scientific Review, No Public Input –

No Problem if it’s for the Trucking Industry

 

More Driving and Work Hours + Less Rest Hours = More Crashes, Deaths and Injuries

 

White House Issues Veto Threat Citing Tired Trucker Provision

 

WHAT:        MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL

This week, the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2577) is being debated on the U.S. Senate Floor.  Tomorrow the House begins consideration of its spending bill in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on THUD.  Both bills include special truck interest provisions that dramatically increase the working and driving hours of truck drivers.  The Senate bill even expands on the provision pushed by Senator Collins in the last two spending bills to write into law a new 73-hour cap on the weekly driving hours of truck drivers.  The Obama Administration set a 60-hour weekly driving limit.  Both the House and Senate provisions stopping the Obama rule were slipped into the must-pass U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) funding bill with no discussion or debate, no independent expert review and no public input.  Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a statement threatening a veto of the Senate bill and its “potential to undercut public safety.”

Truck driver fatigue is a well-known and well-documented safety problem identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), U.S. DOT and decades of research.  Less than two weeks ago, there were two serious large truck crashes involving tired truckers in Nashville, TN and Charlotte, NC.  Each year about 4,000 people are killed in truck crashes and nearly 100,000 more injured. The NTSB included reducing fatigue related crashes on its 2016 Most Wanted List. Crash victims, law enforcement, trucking industry representatives, and safety advocates oppose these back room deals cut to benefit trucking industry profits at the expense of public safety.

WHEN:       Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 10:00 am ET

 

HOW:         To join the Media Conference Call: 800-875-3456       Verbal Passcode: GILL87137

 

WHO:                        

·      Craig and Kathy Clark, Powder Springs, GA, daughter Emily Clark was killed with four other Georgia Southern nursing students when a truck driver with a history of falling asleep at the wheel ploughed over their car.

·      Daphne Izer, Lisbon, ME, Co-Founder of Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT), has been advocating for truck safety since her 17-year-old son, Jeff, was killed on the Maine Turnpike by a tired Wal-Mart truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel and ran over the top of the car, killing four.

·      Dana Logan, Cedar Hill, TX, Truck Driver, survived a multiple vehicle truck crash, caused by a fatigued truck driver who had fallen asleep, resulting in the death of five people.

·      IL State Trooper Douglass J. Balder suffered life threatening burns and injuries when a tired trucker smashed into his patrol car, exploding the gas tank.

·      Keiuna Davis, Savannah, GA, wife Jamila Davis was killed on her way to work in Madison County, AL on the morning of February 12, 2016, when a fatigued truck driver, who had fallen asleep, crossed an interstate median into Jamila’s lane of traveling and hit her vehicle.

·      Jackie Gillan, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety www.saferoads.org

·      Joan Claybrook, Chair, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), and former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

 

WHY:          Special trucking interests are seeking to, once again, overturn the Obama Administration hours of service rule and rewrite a complicated and controversial rule in a must-pass spending bill to benefit corporate trucking interests at the expense of public safety.  Over the past four years for which data is available (2009-2013), there was a 17% increase in deaths and a 28% increase in injuries from large truck crashes. In 2013 alone, the economic cost of truck crashes exceeded $100 billion. (U.S. DOT)

 

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____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

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