TRUCKS SAFETY * Canada & USA - Ontario boasts N.A.'s safest roads

* Canada - "Truck-related fatalities down 24%

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Truck News -May 24, 2011:  --   The most recent road safety statistics indicate Ontario has the safest highways in North America...  Ontario recorded a fatality rate of 0.70 per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2008, reaching its lowest level since 1945 and the lowest in all North America...  The province says its roads have ranked first or second in North America for 10 years in a row...  Transport Minister, Kathleen Wynne, credits Ontario's distracted driving legislation and tough impaired driving rules for making the province's roads safer...  The province saw drinking and driving-related fatalities decline 29%, speed-related fatalities drop 17% and fatalities involving large trucks drop 24% in 2008...  There were 130 people killed in accidents involving large trucks on Ontario roads in 2008, down from 170 in 2007. Of the 130 fatal accidents, the truck driver was "not driving properly" in 47 (or 36.2%) of them. A vehicle defect was detected in just 2% of trucks involved in fatal accidents...  Of 135 large trucks involved in fatal collisions in 2008, 52 were straight trucks and 41 were tractor-trailer units. Twenty-nine involved only a tractor while only two involved tractors pulling A-, B- or C-trains...  In 2008, there were 184,961 tractor-trailer combinations registered in Ontario... (Image from truckaccidents360: MI semi-truck accident. Dec 14. 2010)

Truck Safety * USA - Push unites police, labor and crash survivors

Washington,DC,USA -Star Telegram, by Maria Recio -May. 22, 2011:  ...  A somewhat unlikely ally joined longtime consumer activist, Joan Claybrook, one of the coalition's leaders: Teamsters President, James Hoffa, who represents truck drivers. Hoffa called on the Obama administration to issue tougher regulations on driving hours and for Congress to pass a bill, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Protection Act, that would outlaw larger, heavier trucks... The bill was introduced last month in the House by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and in the Senate this month by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J... Hoffa said his efforts were prompted by his members -- more than 600,000 of the 1.4 million Teamsters are drivers -- and the need to promote safety... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is in the final stages of two related rules: to limit service to 10 consecutive hours and to require trucks to convert to electronic on-board recorders to keep tabs on hours driven continuously. The Truck Safety Coalition is pushing for quick approval of the rules, while the trucking industry supports the on-board recorders but not changing the driving limits...