Safety Program Brings Tractor-Trailer to Nation's Capital for Unique Driver Experience

WASHINGTON, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Life-saving highway driving tips were presented today by top professional truck drivers as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bring Your Child to Work Day activities.

Elite million-mile accident-free drivers shared their message of highway safety with Department of Transportation workers and their families, demonstrating how over the past decade alone, the large truck fatal crash rate dropped by 23 percent.

The American Trucking Associations, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety.

"I've been a truck driver my entire life," said Jerry Charron, a professional truck driver for Con-way Freight. "And I can tell you, safe highway driving has never been more important. With more traffic on the roads, we all need to slow down and use extra caution. Hopefully, sharing my experience here at the U.S. Department of Transportation will help save lives."

Featured at today's event were professional truck drivers Jerry Charron (Con-way Freight), Ralph Garcia (ABF Freight System), Ben Saiz (ABF Freight) and Chris Serviss (Wal-Mart Transportation). These drivers are members of an elite team of million-mile, accident-free truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry's safety messages across the country.

ATA Vice Chair Barbara Windsor told reporters at the event that, "Trucking is one of the largest industries in the United States, so it is important to teach cars and trucks how to co-exist safely on our highways. Share the Road is a vital part of our efforts to make drivers aware of the blind spots around trucks, and help everyone make it home safely. It is great to have this important program here at the U.S. Department of Transportation to let these employees see our efforts."

The safety advice presented by Share the Road is critical for motorists because:

• In 2007, the large truck-involved injury crash rate fell to its lowest ever (USDOT)
• Over the past decade alone, the large truck fatal crash rate dropped by 23 percent (USDOT)
• 35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's blind spots (FMCSA)
• Up to 75 percent of all truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated by car drivers (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety)

At the DOT truck safety demonstration, Department of Transportation employees and their families were given a chance to see the road from the truck driver's perspective. They viewed safe merging and stopping distances, and learned up close and personal some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. Today's demonstration was designed to teach specific skills in order for motorists to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks on the highways, so that they arrive safely at their destinations.

Share the Road is a highway safety outreach program of the American Trucking Associations that educates all drivers about sharing the roads safely with large trucks. An elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free miles deliver life-saving messages to millions of motorists annually. The safety program is sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America, Inc. www.atastr.org

SOURCE American Trucking Associations

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