Its Time For Mandatory Retirement at 65 For Truck Drivers
Its Time For Mandatory Retirement at 65 For Truck Drivers
Traffic fatalities can be reduced dramatically if trucking companies or government concentrates their efforts on the target that has the best opportunity for success. And that target, in my opinion, should be an all-out campaign to reduce roadway deaths caused by trucks.
As an attorney specializing in vehicle accident liability cases, I have argued in the past that truck related deaths can be reduced by paying more attention to highway safety and driver fatigue. In recent months I have become convinced the effort should now involve a three-prong approach – safer roads, less driver fatigue, and a mandatory retirement age for truck drivers.
My concern about mandatory retirement ages for truckers was elevated in July 2008 when a 71-year-old truck driver on I-75 in Michigan slammed into vehicles in the southbound lanes, causing the death of 19-year-old Kara Joan Larivee of Rochester Hills. The 71-year-old driver, already driving at a high rate of speed, failed to react quickly enough to the fact that traffic had come to a standstill because of merging traffic.
When trucks are on the road and something goes wrong, the laws of physics dictate that something very bad will happen. The combination of mass plus speed can lead to loss of human lives or permanent disability, and destruction of freeway overpasses, costing thousands of dollars, and traffic backed up for hours and hours.
Truck company owners will agree with me that truck accidents occur because of fatigue, highway design faults, and driver error. Some causes are predictable; others are not. The result is always predictable, though -- the shear volume of a truck traveling 40 m.p.h. or faster will always create havoc.
The biggest killer on our highways is fatigue. Federal transportation officials must come up with stricter guidelines to make sure that logbooks are properly kept and that commercial carriers ensure their drivers get the rest they need between trips.
State highway departments throughout the U.S must adopt an aggressive program to widen two-lane highways throughout areas to make high-speed travel safer for all. Law enforcement officials must police our highways to enforce speed limits rather than tolerating drivers traveling 80 m.p.h. or higher.
My law firm, Cochran, Foley & Associates, went on record as a truck accident law firm in Michigan and an advocate for reforms to reduce the number of car-truck collisions after representing the family of a 5-year-old boy who was killed when a semi-tractor truck struck from behind a vehicle being driven by his mother.
The minimum reforms I championed then were: paving construction to widen our two-lane highways or at least provide for more left-turn flare lanes increased speed enforcement on two-lane highways stricter enforcement of truck driver's driving time limits can prevent deaths.
I now add to my call for reform the need to lower the maximum driving age for all truckers to 65. Because we cannot predict with any certainty the age when a driver’s physical and mental reactions begin to slow, then 65 becomes the best standard because at that age the driver can draw Social Security and Medicare in addition to any retirement benefits or 401k investments.
Age 65 also is the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots thanks to a bill signed in February 2007 raising the mandatory retirement age to 65. Going back to the 1960s airline pilots were forced to retire at age 60 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Think about that. A pilot flies his plane in open air, without any other planes within visible sight, is aided by a co-pilot a seat away and by a controller on the ground, and often flies on auto-pilot. Not very often is a pilot required to make split-second decisions or quick reactions to conditions surrounding the plane. Yet the FAA for more than half a decade said it was unsafe for a pilot over 60 to continue on the job. Now it’s considered unsafe at age 65.
So why in the world do we allow truckers to continue driving at age 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, etc.? Truck drivers at high speeds every day must make split-second decisions that require extra-ordinary quick reaction times. Common sense, if not physical exams, eye and hearing tests, and stress tests, tells us that a driver age 65-70 is not physically and mentally equipped for this challenge.
If a truck driver makes a mistake it is very hard to correct because of the mass and size of a truck. Most truck drivers are good drivers who drive defensively and are qualified and trained to be good drivers. But only a single driver error in a lifetime of driving can have tragic results. And as that driver nears the end of a career of driving the odds increase dramatically that a fatal mistake will occur.
I cannot rest at peace because I know with certainty that before the year ends someone else will needlessly die somewhere on a highway. I am certain of this because federal officials, state and county governments, and law enforcement won't take any actions beyond the civil and criminal judgments recorded. None of us should be at peace until certain actions are taken. And these actions are: widening our two-lane highways; adding left-turn flare lanes as needed; stricter enforcement to ensure log books reflect actual driving time and rest time; and establishing a mandatory retirement for truck drivers at age 65.
Trucking entrepneurs have the ability to act now and set a mandatory retirement age for truck drivers at 65. If companies don't act, I urge consumers to join me in this campaign by writing letters to the Federal Transportation Agency, to the governor of your state, and to newspaper and television editors. Increased public awareness will result in the changes that are needed to save thousands of lives. What we say does matter and will count for change.
Its Time For Mandatory Retirement at 65 For Truck Drivers - To learn more about this author, visit Terry Cochran's Website.
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By Terry Cochran
Traffic fatalities can be reduced dramatically if trucking companies or government concentrates their efforts on the target that has the best opportunity for success. And that target, in my opinion, should be an all-out campaign to reduce roadway deaths caused by trucks.
As an attorney specializing in vehicle accident liability cases, I have argued in the past that truck related deaths can be reduced by paying more attention to highway safety and driver fatigue. In recent months I have become convinced the effort should now involve a three-prong approach – safer roads, less driver fatigue, and a mandatory retirement age for truck drivers.
My concern about mandatory retirement ages for truckers was elevated in July 2008 when a 71-year-old truck driver on I-75 in Michigan slammed into vehicles in the southbound lanes, causing the death of 19-year-old Kara Joan Larivee of Rochester Hills. The 71-year-old driver, already driving at a high rate of speed, failed to react quickly enough to the fact that traffic had come to a standstill because of merging traffic.
When trucks are on the road and something goes wrong, the laws of physics dictate that something very bad will happen. The combination of mass plus speed can lead to loss of human lives or permanent disability, and destruction of freeway overpasses, costing thousands of dollars, and traffic backed up for hours and hours.
Truck company owners will agree with me that truck accidents occur because of fatigue, highway design faults, and driver error. Some causes are predictable; others are not. The result is always predictable, though -- the shear volume of a truck traveling 40 m.p.h. or faster will always create havoc.
The biggest killer on our highways is fatigue. Federal transportation officials must come up with stricter guidelines to make sure that logbooks are properly kept and that commercial carriers ensure their drivers get the rest they need between trips.
State highway departments throughout the U.S must adopt an aggressive program to widen two-lane highways throughout areas to make high-speed travel safer for all. Law enforcement officials must police our highways to enforce speed limits rather than tolerating drivers traveling 80 m.p.h. or higher.
My law firm, Cochran, Foley & Associates, went on record as a truck accident law firm in Michigan and an advocate for reforms to reduce the number of car-truck collisions after representing the family of a 5-year-old boy who was killed when a semi-tractor truck struck from behind a vehicle being driven by his mother.
The minimum reforms I championed then were: paving construction to widen our two-lane highways or at least provide for more left-turn flare lanes increased speed enforcement on two-lane highways stricter enforcement of truck driver's driving time limits can prevent deaths.
I now add to my call for reform the need to lower the maximum driving age for all truckers to 65. Because we cannot predict with any certainty the age when a driver’s physical and mental reactions begin to slow, then 65 becomes the best standard because at that age the driver can draw Social Security and Medicare in addition to any retirement benefits or 401k investments.
Age 65 also is the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots thanks to a bill signed in February 2007 raising the mandatory retirement age to 65. Going back to the 1960s airline pilots were forced to retire at age 60 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Think about that. A pilot flies his plane in open air, without any other planes within visible sight, is aided by a co-pilot a seat away and by a controller on the ground, and often flies on auto-pilot. Not very often is a pilot required to make split-second decisions or quick reactions to conditions surrounding the plane. Yet the FAA for more than half a decade said it was unsafe for a pilot over 60 to continue on the job. Now it’s considered unsafe at age 65.
So why in the world do we allow truckers to continue driving at age 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, etc.? Truck drivers at high speeds every day must make split-second decisions that require extra-ordinary quick reaction times. Common sense, if not physical exams, eye and hearing tests, and stress tests, tells us that a driver age 65-70 is not physically and mentally equipped for this challenge.
If a truck driver makes a mistake it is very hard to correct because of the mass and size of a truck. Most truck drivers are good drivers who drive defensively and are qualified and trained to be good drivers. But only a single driver error in a lifetime of driving can have tragic results. And as that driver nears the end of a career of driving the odds increase dramatically that a fatal mistake will occur.
I cannot rest at peace because I know with certainty that before the year ends someone else will needlessly die somewhere on a highway. I am certain of this because federal officials, state and county governments, and law enforcement won't take any actions beyond the civil and criminal judgments recorded. None of us should be at peace until certain actions are taken. And these actions are: widening our two-lane highways; adding left-turn flare lanes as needed; stricter enforcement to ensure log books reflect actual driving time and rest time; and establishing a mandatory retirement for truck drivers at age 65.
Trucking entrepneurs have the ability to act now and set a mandatory retirement age for truck drivers at 65. If companies don't act, I urge consumers to join me in this campaign by writing letters to the Federal Transportation Agency, to the governor of your state, and to newspaper and television editors. Increased public awareness will result in the changes that are needed to save thousands of lives. What we say does matter and will count for change.
Its Time For Mandatory Retirement at 65 For Truck Drivers - To learn more about this author, visit Terry Cochran's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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