Attorney General Proposes Mandatory Annual Commercial Truck Safety Inspections, Web Site "Hall Of Shame" For Repeat Violators
February 3, 2006
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today called for a legislative measure to require annual safety inspections for all commercial trucks and create a web site listing all violations, including a "Hall of Shame" highlighting the worst repeat violators.
Blumenthal said that the measures are needed after a string of serious truck accidents last year in Connecticut that killed five and injured numerous others. All three trucking firms had serious safety and maintenance violations.
"The carnage caused by unsafe commercial trucks must end," Blumenthal said. "Connecticut must crack down on trucking companies that put unsafe trucks on the road, threatening public safety.
"Mandatory annual safety inspections will sideline dangerous trucks before they kill or injure, reducing the likelihood of deadly accidents like those last year. The vast majority of Connecticut commercial trucking firms are responsible and safe, and I would expect them to welcome tough measures to force industry renegades and repeat violators off the road.
"Anyone hiring a trucking company should have available -- readily and rapidly -- information on a website about every safety record and violation of every truck. A website with accurate current data about every truck will help stop accidents and save lives. It will encourage inspection and repairs -- and deter use of unsafe trucks. Consumers can avoid using truckers who repeatedly flout the law. Whether the consumer is a town, a business, or a homeowner, truck safety information will mean more responsible choices. A 'Hall of Shame' would bestow a dubious distinction to the most deserving. Shame and embarrassment, combined with monetary incentives, are important tools, but the key is making the information costless and convenient."
In 2005, an unsafe American Crushing & Recycling truck without insurance killed four motorists and injured others in a fiery crash on Avon Mountain; a Rock, LLC, truck with inoperative brakes and an overweight load killed a person in Wallingford and an accident involving a Winter Ridge truck, one of the top 25 trucking firms cited for vehicle safety violations, injured two.
Note:
Notice the mention of unsafe "trucks", but nothing mentioned about the manufacturing companies placing these trucks out on the market. Politicians have their hands in the "Big Corporation's" cookie jar. Big corporations should not be allowed to fund law makers!!!! Our government is being run by money not people.
Yes there are unsafe trucks out on the road, but not all of them are because of the owner's lack of pretrip or post-trip inspections. Read about the recall of Virginia school buses because of faulty brakes. That is a manufacturer issue not a school bus driver issue. He or she had no control over brakes being placed on the bus at the manufacturing plant. The govenor needs to place blame on the corporation that places unsafe vehicles in the market place. It is not always a "driver" issue.
About two weeks ago I was running without lights. Thank God for several vigilant truck drivers that told me by flashing their lights off and on. I turned the CB on to see what it was that they wanted and was told that I had been driving down the highway without lights. I pulled over and checked to see if I could use my brights. I could, so I headed to the nearest truck stop. I bought two headlights and some fuses thinking that was the quick fix. Nope. I investigated all possibilities, but found the problem to be a faulty hood design. Yes, the hood and under-carriage vibration cut the wire for my lights into. The ground and bright light wires were barely intact. I used a splicer connector to put it back together. Why am I telling you this story? Because I could have had an accident and it would have been pinned on me even though this is clearly an engineering design problem beyond my control.
Wake up truck drivers, these new stringent laws include you. You could be blamed for poor workmanship issues even though these are clearly manufacturing issues.
My lights worked when I did my pretrip, but as you can see I had no control over the hood snapping my wires into. This is clearly a safety issue.
February 3, 2006
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today called for a legislative measure to require annual safety inspections for all commercial trucks and create a web site listing all violations, including a "Hall of Shame" highlighting the worst repeat violators.
Blumenthal said that the measures are needed after a string of serious truck accidents last year in Connecticut that killed five and injured numerous others. All three trucking firms had serious safety and maintenance violations.
"The carnage caused by unsafe commercial trucks must end," Blumenthal said. "Connecticut must crack down on trucking companies that put unsafe trucks on the road, threatening public safety.
"Mandatory annual safety inspections will sideline dangerous trucks before they kill or injure, reducing the likelihood of deadly accidents like those last year. The vast majority of Connecticut commercial trucking firms are responsible and safe, and I would expect them to welcome tough measures to force industry renegades and repeat violators off the road.
"Anyone hiring a trucking company should have available -- readily and rapidly -- information on a website about every safety record and violation of every truck. A website with accurate current data about every truck will help stop accidents and save lives. It will encourage inspection and repairs -- and deter use of unsafe trucks. Consumers can avoid using truckers who repeatedly flout the law. Whether the consumer is a town, a business, or a homeowner, truck safety information will mean more responsible choices. A 'Hall of Shame' would bestow a dubious distinction to the most deserving. Shame and embarrassment, combined with monetary incentives, are important tools, but the key is making the information costless and convenient."
In 2005, an unsafe American Crushing & Recycling truck without insurance killed four motorists and injured others in a fiery crash on Avon Mountain; a Rock, LLC, truck with inoperative brakes and an overweight load killed a person in Wallingford and an accident involving a Winter Ridge truck, one of the top 25 trucking firms cited for vehicle safety violations, injured two.
Note:
Notice the mention of unsafe "trucks", but nothing mentioned about the manufacturing companies placing these trucks out on the market. Politicians have their hands in the "Big Corporation's" cookie jar. Big corporations should not be allowed to fund law makers!!!! Our government is being run by money not people.
Yes there are unsafe trucks out on the road, but not all of them are because of the owner's lack of pretrip or post-trip inspections. Read about the recall of Virginia school buses because of faulty brakes. That is a manufacturer issue not a school bus driver issue. He or she had no control over brakes being placed on the bus at the manufacturing plant. The govenor needs to place blame on the corporation that places unsafe vehicles in the market place. It is not always a "driver" issue.
About two weeks ago I was running without lights. Thank God for several vigilant truck drivers that told me by flashing their lights off and on. I turned the CB on to see what it was that they wanted and was told that I had been driving down the highway without lights. I pulled over and checked to see if I could use my brights. I could, so I headed to the nearest truck stop. I bought two headlights and some fuses thinking that was the quick fix. Nope. I investigated all possibilities, but found the problem to be a faulty hood design. Yes, the hood and under-carriage vibration cut the wire for my lights into. The ground and bright light wires were barely intact. I used a splicer connector to put it back together. Why am I telling you this story? Because I could have had an accident and it would have been pinned on me even though this is clearly an engineering design problem beyond my control.
Wake up truck drivers, these new stringent laws include you. You could be blamed for poor workmanship issues even though these are clearly manufacturing issues.
My lights worked when I did my pretrip, but as you can see I had no control over the hood snapping my wires into. This is clearly a safety issue.
