National Share the Road Highway Safety Program Visits Fontana to Promote Safe Driving

FONTANA, Calif., April 29 -- Life-saving highway driving tips were presented today as part of the American Trucking Associations' national Share the Road highway safety tour by top professional truck drivers.

The Share the Road event served as the kick-off to GE's Trailer Sales Showroom Grand Opening in Fontana, which provided the perfect backdrop for the elite million mile accident-free drivers to share their message of road safety. According to the Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California is experiencing an upward trend in highway fatalities, making this event even more timely.

The American Trucking Associations, California Trucking Association, California Highway Patrol, GE Trailer Fleet Services and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety with California motorists. The Fontana, Calif. Share the Road stop demonstrated to drivers how to share the road safely with large trucks.

"With the summer approaching, many motorists will be hitting the highway for family vacations," said Kent Durant, a professional truck driver from Roadway. "Additional cars on the road means safe driving habits become all the more important. That's why we're out here today - to educate the public and make us all a little safer."

Featured at today's event were professional truck drivers Kent Durant (Roadway), Mack McAdory (FedEx Ground), Larry Shelton (Old Dominion Freight) and Rick Whittle (Bulldog Hiway Express). These 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.

GE Trailer Fleet Services President & CEO Joe Artuso said at the event, "Share the Road offers practical tips that can improve highway safety. We're pleased to provide the special trailer used in this program to underscore GE's commitment to safe working conditions -- at our own facilities and for our customers traveling on America's roads."

Today's presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important to area motorists because, according to statistics:

  --  4,236 fatalities occurred on California highways in 2006 - accounting
      for 10 percent of total U.S. highway fatalities (Nation Highway
      Traffic Safety Administration).
  --  35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's
      blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
  --  According to three different studies - including the AAA Traffic
      Safety Foundation and DOT, 3 out of 4 truck-involved fatalities are
      unintentionally initiated by car drivers.

The safety demonstration today kicked-off the Grand Opening for the GE Trailer Sales Showroom located at 15521 Slover Avenue in Fontana. Following the presentation, reporters and photographers were given tractor-trailer rides to see a "trucker's eye-view" of the highway. 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 motorists in order to drive safely around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways, and to arrive safely at their destinations. (See the attached Share the Road safety guidelines.)

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 hundreds of U.S. cities and millions of motorists annually. The safety program is sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America, Inc. ATA

  ATA Share the Road Safety Guidelines for Motorists

  --  Never cut in front of a truck - Fully loaded trucks weigh up to 80,000
      pounds and take the length of a football field to stop.  Most cars
      weigh only 3,000 pounds.

  --  Don't linger alongside a truck - There are large blind spots around
      trucks where cars momentarily "disappear" from view and the truck
      driver can't see you.

  --  Pass trucks quickly - To make themselves visible cars should not
      linger near trucks, and should move past them or slow down to back
      off, out of the blind spot.

  --  Changing lanes - Change lanes when you can see both of the truck's
      headlights in your rearview mirror.

  --  If possible, pass a truck on the left, not on the right - A truck's
      blind spot on the right runs the length of the trailer and extends out
      3 lanes.  Motorists should try to avoid passing through this large
      blind spot.

  --  Keep a safety cushion around trucks - Try to leave a 10-car length
      safety cushion in front of a truck and stay back 20-25 car lengths. 
      Following a truck too closely obscures your view.

  --  Check the truck's mirrors - If you're following a truck and you can't
      see the driver's face in the truck's side mirrors, the truck driver
      can't see you.

  --  Allow trucks adequate space to maneuver - Trucks make wide turns at
      intersections and require additional lanes to turn, so motorists
      should allow a truck the space it needs to maneuver.