Blog Post from American Trucking Associations
Virginia's Highways Offer Little Relief
July 9, 2009
Written by: Brandon Borgna
On July 21 the Virginia Department of Transportation will close nearly half its interstate highway safety rest areas, a plan that has drawn great criticism across the Commonwealth.
As an official from the American Automobile Association (AAA) eloquently explained in an article in The Wall Street Journal, once the safety rest areas close, every long-distance motorist will need "a strong rear end and a strong bladder" to hit the road.
An elderly gentleman from Reston, Va. recently sent ATA an email sharing his own distaste with the safety rest area closings, which he feels are "biased against senior citizens and other users of rest stops."
"This is a major problem for many senior citizens, handicapped people, people with some medical conditions, and people with young children who need to make frequent rest stops while driving," said the gentleman. "This also impacts commercial truck drivers as well. People need to use the bathroom and to stop driving for a while. This is just BASIC health and safety." Exactly!
ATA has opposed these closings and expressed safety concerns in a letter to Governor Tim Kaine. Safety rest stops are necessary for the well being of all motorists, not just drivers of commercial vehicles. AAA recommends travelers take a break at least every 2 hours or every 100 miles by pulling off to a safe rest area to avoid sleepiness and fatigue. Eliminating safety rest areas compromises the alertness of passenger motorists and also promotes unsafe behaviors, like stopping along the shoulders of highways.
For a listing of safety rest areas affected by the closings, visit http://virginiadot.org/travel/map-rest-area.asp.
As an official from the American Automobile Association (AAA) eloquently explained in an article in The Wall Street Journal, once the safety rest areas close, every long-distance motorist will need "a strong rear end and a strong bladder" to hit the road.
An elderly gentleman from Reston, Va. recently sent ATA an email sharing his own distaste with the safety rest area closings, which he feels are "biased against senior citizens and other users of rest stops."
"This is a major problem for many senior citizens, handicapped people, people with some medical conditions, and people with young children who need to make frequent rest stops while driving," said the gentleman. "This also impacts commercial truck drivers as well. People need to use the bathroom and to stop driving for a while. This is just BASIC health and safety." Exactly!
ATA has opposed these closings and expressed safety concerns in a letter to Governor Tim Kaine. Safety rest stops are necessary for the well being of all motorists, not just drivers of commercial vehicles. AAA recommends travelers take a break at least every 2 hours or every 100 miles by pulling off to a safe rest area to avoid sleepiness and fatigue. Eliminating safety rest areas compromises the alertness of passenger motorists and also promotes unsafe behaviors, like stopping along the shoulders of highways.
For a listing of safety rest areas affected by the closings, visit http://virginiadot.org/travel/map-rest-area.asp.
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