National Share the Road Safety Program Returns to Billings to Teach Teens Safe Driving Techniques

BILLINGS, Mont., June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Top professional truck drivers presented life-saving highway driving tips to teen motorists today as part of the American Trucking Associations' national Share the Road highway safety tour.

An estimated 12.6 million new drivers will receive licenses this year nationally, indicating the necessity of sharing the road safely. Professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free driving miles demonstrated techniques that teens, and all motorists, should utilize when driving near large trucks.

The American Trucking Associations, the Montana Motor Carriers Association, and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety withMontana students. Share the Road has returned toBillings to follow up on last year's successful tour throughMontana. This year's stop will run Tuesday to Thursday and visit eachBillings area high school to educate new drivers.

"Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of American teenagers," said Steve Eckhoff, a professional truck driver from Hogan Transports. "I'm a parent, so I know what we're doing here today is very important. Most automobile drivers were never taught what they can do to avoid an accident with a tractor-trailer."

Featured at today's event were professional truck drivers Steve Eckhoff (Hogan Transports) and Clarence Jenkins (UPS Freight). Those 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.

Montana Motor Carriers Association Executive Vice President Barry "Spook" Stang told reporters at the event, "Share the Road is one of the best programs that MMCA can present toMontana motorists. With increasing traffic, it is important to make sure that all drivers are aware of the blindspots around large trucks. This information, and other safety advice, will help everyone to share the roads safely."

Today's presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important toMontana motorists because:

    --  16-year-olds are more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes,
        be responsible for the crash, be cited for speeding, and have more
        passengers than older drivers (National Highway Traffic Safety
        Administration).
    --  35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a
        truck's blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
    --  Up to 75 percent of all truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally
        initiated by car drivers (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety).

Following the safety demonstration today at Skyview High School inBillings MT, reporters and photographers were given tractor-trailer rides. 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 to young motorists in order to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways, and to arrive safely at their destinations. (See the attached Share the Road safety guidelines: http://www.truckline.com/NR/rdonlyres/5B3DD8D9-EF11-4C29-AE05-4C4632316C8E/0/STR_Safety_Guidelines.doc)

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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