ARLINGTON, VA. --- The American Trucking Associations today unveiled the details of a bold highway safety agenda designed to reduce the number of highway-related fatalities and injuries on the nation's highways.

ATA outlined 18 critical steps for further reducing highway crashes among all motorists.

"Safe driving and safe highways are a team effort," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. "The entire community, from motor carriers to law enforcement to the motoring public and law makers must work in concert to make our highways safe. ATA has long pursued a safety agenda. Large truck fatality and injury rates are already at their lowest point since the federal government began reporting the figures three decades ago. But we must continue to raise the bar for safety."

The new safety policies adopted by ATA's board of directors are designed to improve the performance of both commercial and non-commercial drivers, and make vehicles and motor carriers safer. These 18 safety recommendations supplement ATA's existing safety agenda, which includes promoting greater safety belt use by commercial drivers; re-instituting a national maximum speed limit; speed governing of all new trucks; and a decade-long initiative to create a national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results.

The recommendations were made by ATA's Safety Task Force and adopted by ATA's board of directors at the annual Management Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans earlier this month.

Ten recommendations to improve truck and passenger vehicle driver performance are:

1. Policy on the use of non-integrated technologies while the vehicle is in motion

2. Policy supporting uniform commercial drivers license (CDL) testing standards

3. Support for a CDL graduated licensing study

4. Advocate for additional parking facilities for trucks

5. Advocate for a national maximum 65 mph speed limit

6. Pursue strategies to increase the use of seat belts

7. Support for a national car-truck driver behavior improvement program

8. Support for increased use of red light cameras and automated speed enforcement

9. Support for graduated licensing in all states for non-commercial teen drivers

10. Support for more stringent laws to reduce drinking and driving.

Three recommendations that focus on making vehicles safer are:

11. Support targeted electronic speed governing of certain non-commercial vehicles

12. Require electronic speed governing of all large trucks made since 1992

13. Advocate for new large truck crashworthiness standards.

Five recommendations that will improve federal oversight are:

14. Advocate for a national employer notification system

15. Create a federal clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol test results of CDL holders

16. Support a federal registry of certified medical examiners

17. Create a policy supporting access to the national Driver Information Resource

18. Support for required safety training by new entrant motor carriers.