FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 30, 2001
Contact: Elly Martin
Telephone:
(202) 366-9550
NHTSA
22-01
New NHTSA Study Confirms Reflective Tape On Big Trucks Reduces Crashes, Fatalities
A
new study by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirms that the reflective tape now being
required to make trailers on big trucks easier to see is effective in preventing
crashes.
The
study estimates that fully-implemented federal visibility requirements for heavy
trailers will prevent 7,800 crashes annually.
The study also estimates that 191 to 350 fatalities per year will be
prevented, along with 3,100 to 5,000 injuries, once all heavy trailers in the
U.S. fleet have been equipped with highly reflective tape.
“Better visibility means fewer crashes, and fewer crashes translate into injuries prevented and lives saved,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. “Reflective tape is proving to be a very effective component in our plan to improve truck safety and support the Bush Administration’s goal to reduce the number of truck-related crashes.”
According
to the 55-page study, reflective tape reduces side and rear crashes into heavy
trailers, particularly at night “when even a vigilant motorist might not see
an untreated trailer in time for a crash.”
The tape reduces side and rear impacts into heavy trailers by 29 percent
in the dark.
NHTSA
requires all heavy trailers manufactured after November 1993 to be equipped with
highly reflective tape or its equivalent in the form of reflectors.
In March 1999, the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor
Carriers (now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) required that the
entire on-the-road fleet of heavy trailers be so equipped by June 1, 2001.
The
Florida Highway Patrol and the Pennsylvania State Police collected data for the
NHTSA study between 1997 and 1999. Together,
the two law enforcement agencies amassed information on 10,959 crash cases
involving heavy trailers.
The
newly released NHTSA study is on the agency's Website at: www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/809222.pdf.
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