Q: Why should we be concerned about a few truck drivers?
A: You probably don’t realize it but virtually everything you touch has been on a truck. From groceries to gasoline, your new TV, the lumber for your deck, the shingles on your roof, your kid’s bike – they are ALL transported by truck.
Trucks deliver 70% of industrial and retail goods in America. There are over 3M truck drivers on the road and quite simply, we take them for granted. If they suddenly stopped working – this country would come to a screeching halt.
Q: In this economy, should we really be spending money on truck stops?
A: Yes. The money for Jason’s Law is already available in the current budget. It’s just a question of how it will be applied. In addition to safety for truck drivers, Jason’s Law supports:
- Immediate jobs for American workers, particularly construction workers who have been so hard hit by the housing slump.
- When truck drivers have a safe place to pull over and sleep, the incidence of fatigue-related accidents are reduced. That means everyone is safer.
- Diesel fuel emissions are reduced when drivers can safely obey the law.
Q: Don’t they already have plenty of places to park overnight?
A: Most of the rest areas you see on the highway are government-owned and 
are usually for cars, not trucks. And with the current budget crisis, more states are closing down these facilities.
So truckers have few options but to pull off somewhere or use pay-to-park facilities, if they can find one. Truck stops are not guaranteed to be safe, are usually concentrated on major highways and can be quite expensive – just using a shower can cost $8.00.
Jason’s Law wants to help redesign public rest areas to be available to truck drivers. We want existing facilities, like Weigh Stations, to include a place for truckers to park. We want truck stops to have access to grants to update and secure their facilities, with simple basics like lighting, fencing and surveillance cameras.
Q: Isn’t what happened to Jason an anomaly?
A: There are no statistics kept on the number of truck drivers who are attacked or killed while parked. But no, we think what happened to Jason is what would happen to anyone if they have to park in an unsafe place. Imagine if you had to sleep in your car in a deserted alley twice a week. Sooner or later, something bad is going to happen.
Q: Aren’t Truck Stops already safe?
A: No. Most truck stops are poorly lite, and have little to no security.
Q: Isn’t there a lot of crime and prostitution at truck stops?
A. Way too much. Jason’s Law doesn’t just give truckers a place to sleep but a SAFE place to sleep. If truck stops had proper lighting, surveillance cameras and basic security, it will be much harder for criminals of any kind to operate.
Q: So why doesn’t the trucking industry make the truck stops better?
A: Truck stops are privately owned – the trucking industry has no more say in their operation than a gym would in deciding McDonald’s menu. Jason’s Law promotes the use of existing government facilities, like Weigh Stations and Inspection Sites to offer free and safe parking facilities.
The transportation industry pays roughly $37.4 billion in federal and state highway-user taxes. Commercial trucks make up only 12.5% of all registered vehicles, but paid 36.5% of those highway-user taxes in 2006.
It only seems right that some of those tax dollars be used to keep drivers safe.
Jason's Law 