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1
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 233

 
2    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is committed to protecting
3the safety of motorists on its roads and highways and to
4protecting taxpayers' investment in our highway
5infrastructure; and
 
6    WHEREAS, All vehicle crashes are a serious, deadly, and
7costly problem to Illinois families, our State's health care
8system, and the economy; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Illinois trucking industry employs 278,920
10men and women in Illinois; it is responsible for delivering
11food to our grocery stores, supplying medicine and medical
12supplies to serve our healthcare system, and transporting 78%
13of the total manufactured freight in Illinois; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In 2013, there were 10,397 crashes involving
15tractor-trailers out of 285,477 total crashes in Illinois;
16fatalities resulting from tractor-trailer crashes increased by
1713% from 2012 to 2013, and the number of fatal crashes
18involving tractor-trailers also increased by 16%; and
 
19    WHEREAS, From 2009 to 2013, there were 586 fatalities
20resulting from crashes involving large trucks; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Annual truck crash fatalities nationwide are
2equivalent to a major airplane crash every other week of the
3year; and
 
4    WHEREAS, In fatal 2-vehicle crashes between a large truck
5and a passenger motor vehicle, 96% of the fatalities were
6occupants of the passenger vehicle; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Driving a truck is one of the most dangerous
8occupations in the United States; and
 
9    WHEREAS, An April 2014 survey found that 73% of Illinois
10residents oppose increasing the current federal truck weight
11limit of 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Increases to truck size and weight limits would
13have a tremendous impact on Illinois' infrastructure; Illinois
14has the third-largest interstate system in the United States
15and the third-largest bridge inventory in the United States,
16and more than 7,200 trucking establishments within Illinois use
17the extensive network of highways; and
 
18    WHEREAS, At present, nearly 16% of the bridges in Illinois
19are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and 15% of
20the major roads are considered to be in poor condition;
21increasing the weight of a heavy truck by only l0% increases

 

 

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1bridge damage by 33%; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Driving on roads in need of repair costs Illinois
3motorists $3.7 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and
4operating costs, which amounts to nearly $450 per motorist;
5therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
7ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we oppose an increase
8in current truck size and weight limits on all roads in the
9State of Illinois in order to ensure the safety of all Illinois
10motorists on our streets and highways; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That we affirm our opposition to removing or
12weakening the federal freeze on Longer Combination Vehicles
13contained in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
14Act of 1991, which restricts the use of extra-long double and
15triple trailer trucks on Illinois highways because of the
16adverse impact on highway safety and infrastructure; and be it
17further
 
18    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19delivered to the President and Vice President of the United
20States, the Speaker of the United States House of
21Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
22Senate, and the members of the Illinois congressional

 

 

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1delegation.