FIX AMERICA - FIX THE ROADS. THE FACTS. 4 Existing roads and interstates would require one third of the maintenance and last three times longer than  they do now if heavy truck traffic were removed from them. One truck traveling down a road creates as  much wear and damage as many hundreds of automobiles.  Roads built exclusively for heavy truck traffic would be built with sufficient structural strength to support the  heavy loads of the future. Professional truck drivers generally are the most experienced, safest drivers on the road. By separating  them into dedicated truck lanes, the accident rate of trucks would go down significantly because heavy rigs  would not be intermingling with automobiles, which generally have less experienced drivers. Traffic acci- dents and related injuries and fatalities would be significantly reduced if we could separate truck traffic from  passenger automobiles. Automobile accidents would be potentially less fatal because there would be no  collisions with large and heavy trucks. To achieve increased safety and to refurbish our highway system so it can meet the demands of growth,  a new idea is being discussed in our industry and among our legislators: a new system of roads for trucks  only, built on existing right-of-ways or parallel to existing interstates. These commercial roadways would  serve as the new generation of economic development corridors. And, if we can reduce accidents and  congestion by twenty percent, an estimated sixty billion dollars per year would cease draining from our  economy. It is estimated that traffic accidents cost the economy 230 billion dollars per year. The hidden costs created  by the congestion from these accidents add another 70 billion dollars, bringing the total cost caused by lack  of safety to a whopping 300 billion dollars each year.  Each year 42,000 people are killed on our roads. This means 115 people per day die in fatal traffic accidents  in the United States. Two and one half million persons are injured each year, which means an astonishing  6,850 drivers or passengers get hurt on our roads each day. An average of 5,000 fatal crashes involve pas- senger vehicles colliding with heavy trucks.  Seventy-six percent of the freight in America moves by truck. Trucks have become the warehouses of our  manufacturing enterprises. When traffic cannot move, trucks cannot move, inventory cannot move and inef- ficiency occurs. In 1956 the United States began the construction of our American interstate system. This unique system has  been the driving force in the continuing growth of our economy over the last fifty years. Economic growth is  dependent upon the ability to move goods rapidly and efficiently to all areas of the country. It is estimated  that truck traffic will double in the next ten years. In many areas our highway system is in gridlock now. With  ever increasing demands on the system, gridlock will become more widespread and serious. Inability to  move goods efficiently will eventually have an increasingly negative effect on our economy.  Resolve Gridlock and Allow Growth American Freight on American Highways Safety and American Roads THE NEW VISION. A System for Economic Growth A System for Increased Safety in Travel A System Made up of Longer Lasting, Smoother Roads VISION 2020