Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/270298
Law 101 Trucking by Jim C. Klepper - Attorney at Law 800-333-DRIVE An overweight truck driver went to visit his doctor about losing weight. Af- ter the usual doctor stuff, the doctor asks the driver about his eating hab- its. Well Doc, replied the trucker, I eat 7 chocolate covered donuts and three apples every day and I just keep gaining weight. The doctor re- plies; You must reduce your apple intake to only two apples per day, that way we can decrease your calo- rie intake and you can lose weight. What kind of doctor would give their patient trying to lose weight that ad- vice? Only a government doctor it appears since that is essentially what law enforcement has decided to do to trucking. What? How is that anywhere like the doctor ignoring the chocolate covered donuts and focusing on the apples above you may ask? Phil Byrd, President of Bulldog Hi- way Express based in South Carolina, spoke to the Commercial Vehicle Safe- ty Alliance (CVSA), which is composed of law enforcement agencies nation- wide, on April 23, 2013 and asked them to focus more on the unsafe behaviors of both commercial and non-commer- cial drivers in order to increase safety on the road. "About 90% of crashes are the result of driver error or unsafe driver behav- iors, and only about 10% are attributed to vehicle factors," said Byrd. "With this in mind, we must commit ourselves to focusing on appropriate and effective countermeasures that will impact driver behavior." Byrd questions the law enforcement agencies why they were reducing the amount of traffi c enforcement in favor of increased inspections of trucks and driver credentials at roadside. "I think most would agree that examining cre- dentials is not the most effective way to discourage unsafe driving behavior. Visible, on-road enforcement of traffi c laws yields far better results. In fact, a study published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2011 said just that. Specifi cally, in terms of crashes avoided, and lives and injuries saved, the benefi ts of traffi c enforce- ment, coupled with some inspection activity, was about 3 times more effec- tive than roadside vehicle inspections. This fi nding is consistent with my ear- lier observation about driver behavior being responsible for the vast majority of crashes." Byrd also asked CVSA to address the role of passenger vehicles in accidents, www.interstatetrucker.com www.driverslegalplan.com Money vs Safety 24 www.studentdriverplacement.com March '14 trucking law 0314.indd 1 2/19/14 3:35 PM