Mission Statement
MISSION STATEMENT
The trucking industry in the United States is currently plagued by numerous safety problems. Oversize and overweight trucks, truck driver fatigue, substandard vehicle maintenance, and insufficient regulatory enforcement are all obstacles to safe trucking operations.
The trucking industry consistently places productivity concerns over issues of safety. But we feel that the U.S. Congress, regulatory bodies, and trucking interests have a joint responsibility to truck drivers and to the motoring public to make truck safety a top priority.
Safety can be an integral part of trucking operations, and it is our goal to see that U.S. legislators work with trucking interests to set safety as their highest priority.
According to fatality statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 4,986 people died in 451,000 large truck-related crashes in 2003; 86,091,000 more were injured. Now more than ever, safety concerns must be brought to the attention of the trucking industry and an overall improvement must be made in the safety of trucking operations in the U.S.
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) formed in 1990 to help end the devastating problem of truck crashes.
CRASH is a nationwide, grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to improving overall truck safety in the U.S. and eliminating the unnecessary deaths and injuries caused by truck crashes every year.
CRASH represents the millions of Americans who travel the nation's highways every day, including truck drivers, motorists, crash victims, and families of truck crash victims.
CRASH works at the federal level to initiate and promote truck safety legislation around the issues of truck size and weight, truck driver fatigue, and vehicle maintenance.
Our goal is to make safety as important as productivity in all U.S. trucking operations.
Members of CRASH come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and affiliations. CRASH's Board of Directors are national leaders who volunteer their services to advance our public safety objectives.
Many volunteers join our organization because they have seen the trauma caused by large truck collisions first hand. CRASH volunteers are often members of medical associations, emergency care units, head injury foundations, state highway patrols, and crash reconstructionist teams.
Together with the families of truck crash victims, these individuals truly understand the urgency behind our fight to save lives by improving truck safety standards.
Truck drivers are also an integral part of the CRASH team, reminding us that the current system often forces drivers to choose between running safely and making a living.
Finally, many CRASH members are just regular people, motorists who share the roads with big trucks and want to know that those trucks operate as safely as possible.
As a grassroots force, CRASH is dedicated to achieving the following goals:
â ¢Reducing the number of injuries caused by truck-related crashes
â ¢Reducing the number of fatalities caused by truck-related crashes
â ¢Freezing truck size and weight at current levels
â ¢Raising public awareness of important safety issues
â ¢Educating legislators on issues related to truck safety regulation
â ¢Eliminating the problem of truck driver fatigue
â ¢Improving truck maintenance standards
â ¢Providing compassionate support to truck crash survivors and families of truck crash victims
