[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5754]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             LARGER TRUCKS

  (Mr. CARTWRIGHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. I rise today in favor of protecting our 
infrastructure, keeping our roads safe, and reducing emissions. There 
are serious safety, infrastructure, and environmental concerns involved 
with allowing even bigger and heavier tractor-trailers on our roadways 
than are currently allowed. Trucking accidents cause too many deaths, 
and the 3,373 victims in 2011 alone were disproportionately people who 
were driving in cars caught in these heavy truck crashes.
  These oversized trucks also inflict disproportionate damage on our 
roads, and especially on our national bridge system. They impose a 
significant cost on the rest of us to pay for these repairs. Plus, 
allowing larger and heavier trucks would divert freight away from our 
rails and onto our highways, increasing congestion and emissions at a 
time when we are working hard to reduce both.

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