Road Safe America Joins American Trucking Associations in Urging National Use of...

Road Safe America Joins American Trucking Associations in Urging National Use of Speed Governors on Big-Rig Trucks

Truckers Slowing Down to Save Fuel Will Also Save Lives
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
Road Safe America, a non-profit seeking to have a national
regulation adopted requiring the use of speed governors to slow down
tractor-trailer rigs to save lives, supports the effort by the
American Trucking Associations to urge the Bush Administration to
order the use of speed governors to save fuel as diesel continues to
climb above $4 a gallon.

"The trucking industry is facing a financial crisis as the price
of diesel fuel continues to skyrocket, and we understand the dire need
to get the federal government to take measures that will help trucks
save precious fuel," said Stephen C. Owings, founder of Atlanta-based
Road Safe America (www.roadsafeamerica.org). "That's an additional
reason we have encouraged national policies requiring the use of speed
governors on big rigs and we totally support the ATA in their
initiative to slow down big trucks.

"If these measures had been adopted nationally when we first began
advocating them, first and foremost, innumerable lives would have been
saved, not to mention the less important savings of hundreds of
millions of gallons of fuel," declared Owings.

In addition, independent truckers nationwide are considering a
strike to protest the climbing cost of diesel fuel.

Owings and his wife, Susan, founded Road Safe America after their
son, Cullum, was killed in December of 2002 when his car was crushed
from behind by a speeding tractor-trailer truck. Since then, the
Owings family and thousands of supporters in the trucking industry,
government, business, the insurance industry and in the private sector
have been working to have speed governors required and activated on
all Class 7 and 8 trucks (over 13 tons). "That one change will save
the lives of some of the 1,000 truckers killed and the 4,000 motorists
killed yearly in large truck-related highway crashes," said Owings,
who has been appointed to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Advisory
Committee.

ATA President and CEO Bill Graves sent a letter to President
George W. Bush, the Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, and the Treasury Department on March 27 requesting 12
actions be taken immediately to address the trucking industry's
"crisis situation."

Those actions included requiring speed limiters set for 68 miles
per hour on all new trucks.

Owings said citizens should contact their Congressmen and Senators
as well as the President requesting their support for adoption of Road
Safe America's petition (FMCSA # 26851) now pending before the U.S.
Department of Transportation that will require speed governors on all
big trucks to be set at 68 miles per hour. Together with the ATA
filing, this addresses existing as well as future large trucks.

Road Safe America, Atlanta
Andy Bowen, 404-822-3309
ab@clearviewcom.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008