RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Increasingly congested traffic patterns have led the U.S. government to adopt technology such as "black boxes" for large trucks to make the roads safer.
"The goal since deregulation has been to lower the cost of transportation to drive economic activity," Peter Swan, a transportation expert at Penn State University, told the Christian Science Monitor. "That worked fine up to a point. Unfortunately, we're at that point."
Trucking has grown by 70 percent since 1989 but highway spending -- needed to keep roadways repaired and safer -- has not kept that pace.
The government has instituted tighter controls on the number of hours truckers can be on the road -- and the black boxes help monitor that -- but there are still problems with inexperienced drivers, the Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday.
Research shows two-thirds of fatal accidents involving big trucks were caused by automobiles driving erratically, so educating those drivers is also a priority.
The newspaper said since the industry was deregulated, companies have been trying to cut costs by having drivers out on the road more -- as much as 100 hours a week -- and hiring recent immigrants, whose English and driving skills may be lacking.
