Slater Counters Claybrook

The Department of Transportation is responding to criticism from safety groups that the Federal Highway Administration is not adequately handling truck safety.

In a Dec. 7 letter to highway safety advocate Joan Claybrook, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater praised the efforts of both FHWA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for helping reach a record low highway fatality rate and an absolute reduction in the number of deaths in the past year.

In the letter, obtained by Transport Topics, Mr. Slater said he was dismayed by Ms. Claybrook’s comments, published in a Nov. 20 letter to the Washington Post accusing OMC of having “an intimate, inappropriate and scandalous relationship” with the trucking industry.

“It is wrong to assume, as you imply, that few in the industry are capable of genuine concern about safety, that joint safety initiatives between the government and the private sector are inherently inappropriate, or to jump to the conclusion that a transfer of the office would necessarily improve its performance,” Mr. Slater wrote.

“I firmly believe that insomuch as our enforcement, education and research efforts have clearly improved the safety of the nations’ highways and other transportation modes, we cannot neglect to engage with all parties who have a stake in reducing the still unacceptable toll of fatalities and injuries,” Mr. Slater wrote. “That is why we are dedicated to strategically marshaling our resources, working together with those in the industry who are concerned about improving safety, focusing our enforcement efforts on operators which do not meet the standards, and examining on an ongoing basis ways in which we can achieve better results.”

Both Ms. Claybrook and a spokesman for Mr. Slater declined comment on the letter. Mr. Slater’s office has yet to respond to similar criticism made by Ms. Claybrook at a Dec. 4 press conference held by Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (TT, Dec. 14, p. 1).

For the full story, see the Dec. 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.