<i>Roll on Safely Alabama</i> Takes Aim at Truckers – And No One Else

The Birminghan, Ala., News reported Thursday that Alabama lawyer Greg Cusimano and Alabama Watch, a consumer advocacy group, will “launch a trucking safety campaign using billboards, bumper stickers

- and a hot line for motorists to report truckers breaking traffic laws.
Meanwhile, state senator Larry Means, D-Attalla, is expected to propose legislation to let police ticket truckers even if the officers do not see a traffic violation. Means explained the measure would apply to violations not necessarily committed in an officer’s presence, such as being obviously overloaded or carrying a load poorly strapped down.
Another Means proposal would raise the liability insurance logging truckers must carry. "It is likely that insurance companies will require these trucks and drivers to meet higher safety and training standards in order to get coverage," he told the Birmingham News.
Attorney Greg Cusimano calls the campaign Roll on Safely Alabama. According to the Birmingham News, billboards will go up within 30 days, primarily in the Birmingham area. Complaints can be called in at 888-883-7623 or entered at www.UnsafeTrucks.org. The toll-free number rings at the offices of Cusimano’s law firm, Cusimano, Keener, Roberts, Kimberley & Miles in Gadsden, Ala. Cusimano said complaints will be forwarded by letter to Gov. Bob Riley, the Alabama Departments of Public Safety and Transportation, and the trucking company if one is identified in the complaint.
According to the UnsafeTrucks web site, accidents involving trucks in Alabama increased by 15% from 2002 to 2003. However, Frank Filgo, president and CEO of the Alabama Trucking Assn., trucks are involved in only 3% of crashes in the state and trucks are the only highway segment to actually show a decrease in accidents.
Filgo said Means has previously introduced legislation to lower speed limits for trucks and to introduce lane restrictions. Filgo also criticized the phone-in idea. “How do you establish whether its a credible call or not?” he said.
“If what I read in the paper is true,” Filgo said, “we will fight that measure. We embrace enforcement. We disapprove of unsafe trucks. This effort is not what it appears to be. It's someone going after business. It has nothing to do with safety.”
American Trucking Assns. spokesman Mike Russell said the ATA is aware of the Alabama group and is concerned that the "hotline" is aimed exclusively at truckers.