National Press Release

GRETNA, Neb., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Life-saving highway driving tips were presented today by a top professional truck driver as part of the Nebraska Trucking Association's annual Antique Truck Show and Shine. The national Share the Road program brought an elite million mile accident-free driver to Gretna, Nebraska to share his message of highway safety.

The American Trucking Associations, Nebraska Trucking Association, and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite professional truck driver to discuss highway safety with attendees of the event.

Featured at today's event was professional truck driver Tim Dean (Werner Enterprises) of Griswold, Iowa. Dean is a member of an elite team of million-mile, accident-free truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry's safety messages across the country.

"It's great to be at the antique truck show," said Tim Dean, a professional truck driver from Werner Enterprises. "Being from nearby Griswold, I am very excited to help educate the motoring public that I interact with on the highway everyday. Hopefully, I've taught the attendees the importance of passing safely, maintaining a safe speed and keeping a minimum following distance, so we can all get home safely to our families."

Nebraska Trucking Association President Larry Johnson told reporters at the event that, "Trucking is big business in Nebraska, so it is important to teach cars and trucks how to co-exist safely on our highways. Share the Road is a vital part of our efforts to make drivers aware of the blind spots around trucks, and help everyone make it home safely. It is great to have this important program here at our annual Antique Truck Show and Shine."

Today's presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important for motorists because, according to statistics:

    --  In 2008, there were 208 traffic fatalities in Nebraska (NHTSA).
    --  In 2007, the large truck-involved injury crash rate fell to its lowest
        ever (USDOT)
    --  Over the past decade alone, the large truck fatal crash rate dropped by
        23 percent (USDOT)
    --  35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a
        truck's blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

    --  According to three different studies -- including the AAA Traffic Safety
        Foundation and DOT, 3 out of 4 truck-involved fatalities are
        unintentionally initiated by car drivers.

At the truck safety demonstration, attendees were given a chance to see the road from the truck driver's perspective. They viewed safe merging and stopping distances, and learned up close and personal some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. Today's demonstration was designed to teach specific skills in order for motorists to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks on the highways, so that they arrive safely at their destinations.

Share the Road is a highway safety outreach program of the American Trucking Associations that educates all drivers about sharing the roads safely with large trucks. An elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of accident-free miles deliver life-saving messages to millions of motorists annually. The safety program is sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America, Inc. www.atastr.org

SOURCE American Trucking Associations