As surveys conducted by the Angus Reid Group have demonstrated, older Canadians are particularly worried about sharing public roads with large trucks. They have good reason to be nervous.

Seniors over 65 are involved in fatal accidents with heavy trucks three times as often as younger drivers. This is the conclusion of an analysis of the American government's fatal accident statistics conducted by R.D. Mingo and associates, a

Washington-based based safety and engineering consulting firm.

Seniors cite concerns about heavy truck tailgating, headlight glare, obstruction of view, and splash and spray. Sadly, the Mingo research suggests that seniors are also disproportionately involved in the kinds of accidents they adjust their driving behaviour to avoid. Seniors are more likely to be killed than younger persons in

collisions where a truck strikes the back of their passenger vehicle, and in collisions during wet weather conditions.

Recognition of the vulnerability of older Canadians to serious accidents with large trucks takes on an added dimension in Saskatchewan. This is a result of a Report Card on Big Truck Safety, by province, recently released by a national road safety group. Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways (CRASH), in its role of

representing public concerns about sharing public roads with large trucks, has ranked Saskatchewan as Canada=s second poorest province in terms of trucking safety. Only Alberta is worse.

The CRASH Report Card employed rigorous analysis of the most relevant and most timely government information available for all ten provinces. The Report=s authors did not set out to pass or fail any particular jurisdiction. Rather, the scoring was driven by the facts.

In the view of the Report Card authors, the Saskatchewan government's approach to trucking safety deserved no better than a failing grade. Here's why;

$ Saskatchewan now allows 130 feet long multi_trailer trucks -- 50% longer than the national standard _ on two_lane roads never designed for them. No other province has such a lax approach. to oversize trucks.

$ The province helps itself to a share of the profits trucking companies gain from being allowed to operate giant trucks on Saskatchewan roads. In taking money in exchange for its permission to allow these vehicles, which the U.S. Congress has acted against as unsafe, the province is in a conflict of interest with the lives and well-being of its own citizens.

$ The province allows truck drivers working within its boundaries to be required to work up to 104 hours per week. There are only 168 hours in a week. The 104 hour ceiling compares with a weekly workload cap of 60 hours enforced by virtually all North American jurisdictions. A panel of sleep experts recently convened by Transport Canada has described an 84 hour truck driver week

(significantly less than Saskatchewan=s 104 hours) as ADangerous.@

$ The Saskatchewan government=s permissiveness with respect to both length of trucks and length of driving hours results in the province having the most lax trucking safety regulations in all of Canada and the United States.

:But, there's more .....

$ Although all commercial trucks over 4.5 tonnes are supposed to be covered by the requirements and controls of the National Safety Code for truck safety, Saskatchewan has arbitrarily exempted all trucks within its jurisdiction weighing between 4.5 and 11.0 tonnes.

Given all the foregoing, it is perhaps not surprising that Saskatchewan has a per capita fatality rate for big truck accidents well above the national average. Also of significance is the fact that accidents involving large trucks are accounting for a growing share of all road deaths and injuries in the province.

The release of the CRASH Report Card generated considerable media, political and public interest.

Much of the resulting debate has been useful. Several sources, for example, have suggested that one other factor in the Saskatchewan road safety picture may be the growing number of large trucks owned and operated by farmers as the province=s elevator and rail network shrinks. Is the operation of these trucks, they ask, adequately regulated from the public safety perspective?

But other responses to the Report Card have been predictably self_serving. The high fatal accident rate has been passed off as a result of factors beyond the province=s control, or simply blamed on car drivers.

Any claims by those who argue it is okay for Saskatchewan to have a lax trucking safety regime need to be carefully scrutinized. The assertion that the province=s safety problems have been minimal, hides behind (in the case of work hours) poor

accident analysis and (in the case of oversize trucks) limited operational experience to date. Inevitably, more Saskatchewan residents are going to pay the ultimate price for this cavalier approach to their road safety.

The CRASH Report Card makes it very clear that there is a problem with truck safety in Saskatchewan.

Trying to bury the CRASH report will not save any lives. On the other hand, trying to do something about the issues the report (and subsequent discussion of the report) has raised, just might have a beneficial result. #

Information from Ont. Coalition for Social Justice.