Governor's Effort To End Overweight Hauling Is Credited For Saving Lives

Press Release, Aug 28, 2006

Pikesville - Dangerously overloaded, some coal trucks traveling in Eastern Kentucky would slow to a crawl on steeper grades, creating a risk of rear-end collisions with passenger cars going twice as fast.

Almost as soon as Gov. Ernie Fletcher took office, his administration began a crackdown on truckers hauling overweight loads. Roy Crawford, an Eastern Kentucky forensic engineer who has pushed for years for safer roads in the coalfields, said the move has saved countless lives.

The crackdown on overweight trucks is one of a series of decisions made by the embattled governor to drum up support in Eastern Kentucky, where he faced criticism early in his term for disbanding a regional commission.

Fletcher, visiting the coalfields last week, received a standing ovation from about 150 people who packed into a restaurant in Pikeville to hear him rattle off what he considers the major achievements of his administration.

Statistics from the Department of Vehicle Enforcement show fatalities involving heavy trucks in the coalfields declined from 40 the year before Fletcher's crackdown on overweight coal haulers to 13 over the past year. Read more at kentucky.gov