How do “we” want to handle it? Ask the trucking industry to pay for underride protection as a Cost of Doing Business or continue to force the society and victims to pay for the cost of large truck crashes?
Costs of large truck-involved crashes in the United States
Zaloshnja_Cost Truck Injuries USA[14648]
Underride Question: Litigation or Legislation?
Win/Win: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the STOP Underrides! Bill
My Underride Protection Win/Win List:
- Fuel Savings (aerondynamics when combined with side skirts)
- Return On Investment (see #1)
- Trucks get Back on the Road more quickly when a crash does not involve a fatality.
- Driver Benefit: less negative impact on their career and avoidance of PTSD from someone dying under their truck.
- Job Creation (design, manufacture, installation, and maintenance of underride protective devices).
- Trailer Manufacturers burden lifted if mandated; they no longer have to persuade customers to buy trailers with safer equipment/design.
- BTW, lives are saved and serious injuries are prevented
Incentives:
- Sponsors of the STOP Underrides! Bill are open to discussing a weight exemption for added weight of safety equipment (so that payload is not impacted).
- Section 179 of the IRS Tax Code allows for a tax deduction for safety equipment purchased by trucking companies.
- Decreased insurance risk. Wouldn’t it be great if the insurance industry would play their part and provide incentives for use of this equipment (perhaps discounts for early adopters of this life-saving technology)?
