Summary: | The Montana Motor Carriers Association and the American Trucking Associations team up with the national Share the Road highway safety program to educate high school students how to drive around large trucks. Professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free driving miles will demonstrate safety measures critical to saving lives on Montana highways to students. Students at Skyview High School; Billings Senior High School and Billings West High School will have the opportunity to climb inside the cab of a tractor-trailer and see first hand what a professional truck driver can and cannot see. |
| Who: | Share the Road professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free driving miles |
American Trucking Associations | |
Montana Motor Carriers Association | |
| What: | A demonstration of highway safety measures will be conducted for students as part of the national Share the Road safety tour. The local news media can interview the elite drivers at the school or in the cab of a tractor-trailer during a "ride-along" on the highway. |
| When: | Tuesday, June 17 (Billings Senior High School) 8:15 am until 12:15 pm |
Wednesday, June 18 (Skyview High School) 8:15 am until 12:15 pm | |
Thursday, June 19 (Billings West High School) 8:15 am until 12:15 pm | |
| Where: | Billings Senior High School (425 Grand Avenue, Billings, MT) - Tuesday |
Skyview High School (1775 High Sierra Blvd, Billings, MT) - Wednesday | |
Billings West High School (2201 Saint Johns Avenue, Billings, MT) - Thursday | |
| Interviews: | The professional drivers and safety partners will be available for media interviews during the day. This safety advice is critical for Montana motorists because: |
- Motor Vehicle crashes among teens is the number one cause of all teen deaths, killing an estimated 2,800 teenagers every year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
- Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
- 35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
- Up to 75 percent of all truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated by car drivers (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety).
About Share the Road:
Share the Road is a highway safety outreach program of the American Trucking Associations that educates all drivers about sharing the roads safely with large trucks. An elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free miles deliver life-saving messages to millions of motorists annually. The safety program is sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America, Inc. www.atastr.org
CONTACT: Elisabeth Barna, American Trucking Associations, 202.420.8972
/PRNewswire/ --June 16, 2014/
SOURCE American Trucking Associations
