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To reduce injuries and deaths, a safety group has renewed calls for the federal government to impose a 65 mph speed limit on large trucks. Road Safe America, an Atlanta, Georgia-based nonprofit, urged people on Facebook to contact members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to push the Department of Transportation to...

Truck crashes are killing more people -- despite stricter inspections and more emphasis on safety. The Denver Post reported that the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks in the United States increased by 42 percent from 2009-2017, citing information from the National Traffic Safety Administration. Nearly 4,800 people were killed in 4,237 wrecks in...

Pedestrians don’t typically fare well when it comes to collisions with motor vehicles. Unlike bicyclists and motorcycles, who may be more likely to wear protective gear, pedestrians are the most vulnerable and susceptible to being severely injured. While overall traffic fatalities have seen a slight dip over the last few years, pedestrian deaths have risen...

It’s bad enough that speeding among passenger-vehicle drivers causes devastating traffic accidents in El Paso. With large commercial trucks, there is a major contrast in size and weight. Large trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds with fully-loaded trailers. Trucks with twin-tandem trailers can weigh up to 34,000 pounds. According to the National Highway Traffic...

If you’re the average driver in greater El Paso, the term Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) may not ring a bell in terms of road safety. The CSA is a tracking program orchestrated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and applies to large commercial vehicles and trucking companies. Under this program, each fleet...

You may have occasionally seen them on some major roadways in greater El Paso: large commercial trucks carrying two trailers, particularly twin tandem trailers, each with a standard length of 28 feet. If some lawmakers have it their way, longer semi-trucks will become the norm. Proponents of bigger trucks claim that they will provide more...

El Paso road users have been waiting long enough for the trucking industry to improve the safety of its large commercial vehicles. It’s a slow progression, but the industry is finally coming around, according to Trucks.com.   Many of today’s trucks come equipped with:   Lane-departure warning systems: Using sensors to monitor lane markings, this feature warns drivers of unintentional...

Accidents involving large commercial trucks are very different than those involving passenger vehicles. With a fully loaded trailer, large trucks can weigh as much as 80,000 lbs. Even when the brakes are properly maintained, they can take 25 to 65 percent longer to stop. As a result, the amount of damage a single truck accident...

We all know that truck drivers have a stressful job. Trucking companies often put a lot of pressure on their drivers to deliver consumer goods as quickly as possible. However, that doesn’t change the reality that these massive vehicles can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and if a single crash occurs, it can be devastating to all road...

Many car safety features that were once expensive upgrades are now standard and affordable, including forward-collision warning (FCW) and automatic emergency braking. Research has shown that these features reduce crashes in passenger vehicles. The technology also exists for commercial trucks, but adoption is much less widespread. As of 2015, only 15 percent of heavy trucks were outfitted with these safety...