Cory Booker: “trucking is critical to the movement of goods to consumers across the country. The trucking industry is a vital part of…”

“trucking is critical to the movement of goods to consumers across the country. The trucking industry is a vital part of our economy. But we must also strive to ensure that goods are moved as safely as possible. Each year, nearly 4,000 lives are lost due to truck crashes on our Nation's highways. Research by the National Transportation Safety Board has shown that many of these crashes could have been prevented. We owe it to the individuals and families affected by these tragedies to take every step possible to reduce the risks and prevent needless crashes. That is why I have introduced the Truck Safety Act of 2015, legislation that will modernize our truck safety standards and embrace new technologies that can help reduce crashes across the country. This legislation includes a provision to require collision-avoidance technologies in commercial vehicles involved in interstate commerce. Many of the fatalities that occur today are the result of rear-end collisions that could have been prevented with current technology. The technology can detect an impending collision or unsafe lane departure and automatically apply corrective action if a human operator is unable to do so. The U.S. Department of Transportation has been working on this issue for several years and many companies have adopted these technologies. It is far past time that these lifesaving devices were required in all new trucks.…”