AAA Will Focus On All Aspects Of Truck Safety
21 April 1999
AAA Will Focus On All Aspects Of Truck Safety SAN DIEGO, April 21 -- Delegates to AAA's 96th Annual Meeting
here said today that truck safety will be the priority issue for the nearly
42-million-member association in 1999-2000.
"AAA will focus on all aspects of truck safety," said Fred Gruel,
president and CEO of the New Jersey Automobile Club and chairman of AAA's
Public and Government Relations Committee.
"We want to make sure that in the debate about letting even bigger trucks
on the road, our government doesn't lose sight of the safety implications of
those big rigs, as well as the increased damage they cause to our highways,"
Gruel said.
"Our members know this country's economy depends on the efficient shipment
of goods and that means trucks are here to stay," Gruel said. "AAA will work
to improve highway safety for everyone.
"We will look at all the various studies on truck safety and the impact of
big trucks on the nation's highways to see what information is missing. We
need new and better data to help us focus on the real problems," he added.
AAA recently testified before Congress and proposed a comprehensive study
of truck-car crashes, believing that the data produced from the study will
help safety officials take better aim at real truck safety problems, rather
than continuing to guess at what will work to improve safety.
"Why are trucks an association priority issue?" Gruel asked. "Because our
members tell us they want us to concentrate on this important issue.
"AAA must make sure that motorists have a voice in discussions about
bigger and heavier trucks on our highways. And, we owe it to our members to
make sure that truck safety regulations are focused on the right problems and
that those regulations are fully enforced," Gruel said.
AAA is a not-for-profit federation of 91 clubs with 1,100 offices
providing members in the United States and Canada with travel, financial,
insurance and auto-related services.
