“I am quite confident a similar study conducted today would have similar conclusions knowing highway congestion has grown over the past three years and our bridges and highways haven’t gotten any younger. According to the Federal Highway Administration there are 20,177 bridges in Tennessee and 10,955 (or 54 percent) are in fair-to-poor condition. Need I ask the question whether-or-not heavier tractor-trailer rigs will further negatively impact these aging structures and unnecessarily risk the lives of all of us using them daily?
Six years of commuting to work on I-75 between Chattanooga and Cartersville, Ga., has given me some perspective on big rigs. I have seen a noticeable increase in accidents involving tractor-trailer rigs over the past two years, many of which are single vehicle accidents. I can’t explain the increased number of accidents, but I am certain larger rigs will result in many more severe accidents. During 2018 in Tennessee alone, there were 3,973 large-truck accidents resulting in 118 fatalities. In the first half of 2019, reported highway accident numbers indicate Tennessee is on track to repeat similar numbers of large truck accidents with an even greater number of fatalities.”