## VISION 2020 

## FIX AMERICA - FIX THE ROADS. 

## Resolve Gridlock and Allow Growth 

In 1956 the United States began the construction of our American interstate system. This unique system has been the driving force in the continuing growth of our economy over the last fifty years. Economic growth is dependent upon the ability to move goods rapidly and efficiently to all areas of the country. It is estimated that truck traffic will double in the next ten years. In many areas our highway system is in gridlock now. With ever increasing demands on the system, gridlock will become more widespread and serious. Inability to move goods efficiently will eventually have an increasingly negative effect on our economy. 

## THE FACTS. 

## American Freight on American Highways 

Seventy-six percent of the freight in America moves by truck. Trucks have become the warehouses of our manufacturing enterprises. When traffic cannot move, trucks cannot move, inventory cannot move and inef- ficiency occurs. 

## Safety and American Roads 

Each year 42,000 people are killed on our roads. This means 115 people per day die in fatal traffic accidents in the United States. Two and one half million persons are injured each year, which means an astonishing 6,850 drivers or passengers get hurt on our roads each day. An average of 5,000 fatal crashes involve pas- senger vehicles colliding with heavy trucks. 

It is estimated that traffic accidents cost the economy 230 billion dollars per year. The hidden costs created by the congestion from these accidents add another 70 billion dollars, bringing the total cost caused by lack of safety to a whopping 300 billion dollars each year. 

## THE NEW VISION. 

## A System for Economic Growth 

To achieve increased safety and to refurbish our highway system so it can meet the demands of growth, a new idea is being discussed in our industry and among our legislators: a new system of roads for trucks only, built on existing right-of-ways or parallel to existing interstates. These commercial roadways would serve as the new generation of economic development corridors. And, if we can reduce accidents and congestion by twenty percent, an estimated sixty billion dollars per year would cease draining from our economy. 

## A System for Increased Safety in Travel 

Professional truck drivers generally are the most experienced, safest drivers on the road. By separating them into dedicated truck lanes, the accident rate of trucks would go down significantly because heavy rigs would not be intermingling with automobiles, which generally have less experienced drivers. Traffic acci- dents and related injuries and fatalities would be significantly reduced if we could separate truck traffic from passenger automobiles. Automobile accidents would be potentially less fatal because there would be no collisions with large and heavy trucks. 

## A System Made up of Longer Lasting, Smoother Roads 

Roads built exclusively for heavy truck traffic would be built with sufficient structural strength to support the heavy loads of the future. 

Existing roads and interstates would require one third of the maintenance and last three times longer than they do now if heavy truck traffic were removed from them. One truck traveling down a road creates as much wear and damage as many hundreds of automobiles. 

