vision2020
RE: vision2020-digest Digest V99 #192
Ken,
Being in the transportation business myself (my commodity is passengers) I
will respond to one point that you made. That would be the stat quoted
"...they (trucks) now account for 22% of road accidents". I would guess the
actual study uses the words "involves trucks" not "account for".
With the amount of exposure the transportation industry has, many millions
of miles annually, vs. the average motorist 15-20K, you would expect to see
more accidents involving trucks. The more telling statistic would be how
many of those accidents were the fault of the truck, and how many accidents
was a truck collateral to the accident.
Whether you believe it or not, the transportation industry (trucks & busses)
has a far safer miles to accident ratio than the average motorist.
Commercial drivers as a class have received on average 200 hours plus of
defensive driving and safety training, and employers spend many hours
annually refreshing and emphasizing safety. The average motorist has maybe
60 hrs of drivers ed from high school, and has no requirement for continuing
education. The example that comes to mind is a commercial driver MUST take
the drivers test every four years before renewal of their license, the
average Idaho motorist never has to take an exam again as long as they renew
the license before expiration.
The transportation industry is already one of the safest, most over
regulated and over taxed class of drivers. Adding more regulations are not
the answer, restricting roads is also not the answer. The answer is we all
have to use the roads, and we should all be responsible and safe while using
them. Blaming the transportation industry is not going to solve anything.
Jerry L. Schutz
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Medlin [mailto:dev-plan@moscow.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 4:13 PM
To: Brett Bennett; Moscow Vision 2020; Senator Crapo
Subject: Re: vision2020-digest Digest V99 #192
Brett: No doubt that economic survival is vital to enterprises in the
timber industry and that efficient routing must be secured for
profitability and competitiveness. If so, then your kind of company ought
to make it very clear to the logging trucks and other service vehicles
that they "share", not dominate, the roads along with tens of thousands
of other vehicles and people. One cannot drive very far on ID roads
without encountering plenty of trucks loaded with timber, and many of
them drive excessively fast, sometimes a bit recklessly, and can be a
threat to the rest of us. I have been driving for over 60 years, and my
vast experience tells me that hiway safety is worsening all the time and
violations of rules and courtesy count for 60,000 deaths each year (more
than Viet Nam). The federal DOT study, done by the U of Michigan, just
released, tells us that while only 4% of all registered vehicles are
trucks, they now account for 22% of road accidents! Something here is
wrong and must change. If it doesn't , people will eventually get a
referendum to change the regulations and threaten your economic survival,
if that depends in some way on the present road behaviors of the trucking
industry. Trucks on the 4-lanes and divided hiways/Interstates present
less of a problem, but even there high speeds are rampant -- just try
clocking them, which I occasionally do: 10 - 20 MPH above the legal
limits. In CA, they're supposed to keep it at 55 !! Forget it. One of my
relatives worked for the CA Hiway Patrol, and he told me they don't
bother the trucks, except for glaring safety vilotations. Othe prople
and drivers, esp. with children in the car, deserve to see the rules
followed. Where do you stand on this? Maybe the timber industry ought to
begin investing in other economic pursuits, including tourism and animal
parks and fish hatcheries and other small enterprises linked to the
hi-tech industry. There are many options! Please give it some sober
thought, and let's hear from you again. Thanks so much for sharing. W.
Ken Medlin, Moscow
------------------------
William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com
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