Top professional truck drivers presented lifesaving highway driving tips to teen motorists on Wednesday, Oct. 10, during “Put the Brakes on Fatalities” day as part of the American Trucking Associations’ national Share the Road highway safety tour. Professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free driving miles demonstrated techniques that teens, and all motorists, should utilize when driving near large trucks.
The American Trucking Associations and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety with Ohio students at the Share the Road stop in Shelby, Ohio. “Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of American teenagers,” says Randy Broderick, a professional truck driver from FedEx Freight. “I’m a parent, so I know what we’re doing here today is very important. Most automobile drivers were never taught what they can do to avoid an accident with a tractor-trailer.”
Featured at the event were professional truck drivers Broderick and Al Adams and Rich Scholl, both from Roadway. Those 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. “Share the Road allows me as a truck driver to give people lifesaving advice,” Scholl says. “By being aware of the blind spots around trucks, all drivers can more easily avoid crashes. This information, and other safety advice, will help everyone to share the roads safely.”
The presentation of Share the Road safety measures to teens is important because, according to national statistics, 16-year-olds are more likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes, be responsible for the crash, be cited for speeding and have more passengers than older drivers.
Following the safety demonstration at Shelby High School, reporters and photographers were given tractor-trailer rides. From the truck driver’s perspective, they viewed safe merging and stopping distances, and learned firsthand some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. The demonstration was designed to teach specific skills to young motorists in order to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways.
