CHALOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A House panel voted Thursday to slow a measure that would have allowed heavier, longer trucks on the country's highways, saying the U.S. Transportation Department needs more time to study the potential effect on roads and bridges.
It also would have expanded the use of triple-trailer trucks in states that had banned them.
The proposal caused a lot of anxiety among drivers like Terese Minerick, a Charlotte-based mom.
"I know truck drivers have a lot accidents," she says, "and with my child in the car with me 90% of the time, it's scary. Even with regular-sized semi's, it seems a little unsafe sometimes. I see them swerving around."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Politico today that it was the worst transportation bill he'd ever seen, saying it would undo decades of safety laws.
And AAA's Tom Crosby says size does matter when it comes to truck safety. "When trucks are that size, anything they crash into is pretty much going to be demolished. The truck will survive. The vehicle they hit will not."
Large trucks make up only 3% of all registered vehicles, but they're counted in 11% of annual motor vehicle crashes, according to the Truck Safety Coalition. The group says that in 2010, overall traffic fatalities declined, but crash fatalities involving trucks increased by nearly 9%.
These accidents, though, are not always – or even mostly – the fault of truckers.
"One in every six or seven accidents is caused by a trucker," says Crosby. "Most are caused by four-wheel vehicle passengers cutting in front of trucks."
The trucking industry told House lawmakers that bigger rigs would mean less time on the road, and thus less wear-and-tear on the nation's highways.
"It's a real slam to anybody that knows about highway safety, because what they're saying is we're going to put money above lives," says Crosby.
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