Georgia House of Representatives
Public Information Office
Room 505, Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, GA 30334
404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800

Lawmakers heard from interested parties which included the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, Department of Transportation, Triple AAA and Safe America, which educates the public on the importance of driving safely.

One of the speakers also included Steve Owings, whose son Cullum was tragically killed in a highway accident by a large truck in December of 2002 when he was on his way home from college. Addressing committee members he said, “I’m not on anyone’s side, I’m on the side of the people, I’m a broken hearted father who knows we cannot make our highways perfect and I know truck drivers have a very hard job, but we can and must make our highways more safe. 5,000 people die in fatal truck accidents every year, that is 14 every day.”

“Truck drivers have a very difficult job and in no way do we want to hurt such a vital industry but Georgia’s population has grown dramatically in the past decade which has increased the amount of traffic on our highways and unfortunately, increased the amount of truck related accidents,” said Gardner, who sponsored legislation creating the study committee. “We received a large volume of information today which will help us make decisions on what is in the best interest of the driving public.”

In the past ten years, over 15,000 people have lost their lives in Georgia in motor vehicle crashes and the state has been in the top five states for the past five years for fatalities in motor vehicle crashes involving large trucks.

Committee members will meet 3 more times to gather information and hear testimony before they recommend any legislation to the House of Representatives prior to the General Assembly meeting in January.

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For further information contact Rep. Gardner @ 404-656-0305.