Letters to the Editor:
Truck safety needs to improve to protect cyclists and pedestrians
To the Editor:
Eleven percent of all bicyclist fatalities and 7 percent of pedestrian fatalities are the result of accidents involving tractor-trailer trucks. Yet, these trucks only account for about 4 percent of the total vehicles on the road.
Of particular note, during a recent 5-year period, over 1,740 Americans died when their car, motorcycle or bicycle collided with a large truck, and one-third of those deaths were from impacts with the side of the trailer.
These deaths and countless injuries could have been prevented if the trucks had been fitted with side underride guards.
Unlike rear underride guards, side underride guards are not currently required by federal law, however, cities like Boston, New York, and Seattle now mandate that all city-owned trucks and contractor trucks be equipped with side underride guards. Most of the developed world has required these side guards for decades, but the U.S. has been slow to adopt them.
Crumley Roberts supports those mandates, and has undertaken a campaign to educate municipal governments and hauling companies to install side underride guards on all of their tractor trailers.
We urge everyone to contact their local, state, and federal elected officials, and urge them to require that all tractor trailers be equipped with life-saving, side underride guards.
To facilitate these reforms, we urge everyone to sign the petition provided in this link: https://crumleyroberts.formstack.com/forms/underride_guard_petition
Dré Fleury, Chief Legal Officer, Crumley Roberts, Charlotte
Adams assails Continuing Appropriations measure
To the Editor:
Today’s [Dec. 7] continuing resolution is a slap in the face to my constituents and our state and local governments.
The 12th District deserves greater funding certainty and we should have provided that.
Instead of working on a bipartisan, long-term funding bill that addresses key priorities, such as funding for Community Health Centers and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, House Republicans have wasted a year re-litigating health care and trying to score political points.
This is unacceptable and I will not support such a haphazard approach.
U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12), Washington, D.C.
