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1994 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 53
Memorializing Congress to urge the Department of Defense to provide funding to accelerate the conversion of military technology to increase truck safety.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 4, 1994
Agreed to by the Senate, March 8, 1994

WHEREAS, in 1991, the nation experienced 320,000 accidents involving large trucks, which caused 111,000 injuries and 4,800 fatalities; and

WHEREAS, in Northern Virginia, the problem is acute, often with fiery crashes involving large trucks, many of them on the extremely congested Capitol Beltway, causing numerous injuries, frequent loss of life, and legendary traffic jams; and

WHEREAS, according to the American Trucking Association, truck drivers' succumbing to drowsiness, fatigue, and the hypnotism of the road is a major cause of many of these accidents; and

WHEREAS, technology originally developed for the military holds the promise of alleviating the problem of driver fatigue, and a consortium consisting of a defense contractor, the American Trucking Association, truck manufacturers, fleet operators, and academicians has adapted a system originally designed for military use to reduce truck accidents caused by driver fatigue or inattention; and

WHEREAS, using radar systems now utilized in military avionics and guidance systems, combined with computer software designed for automatic target recognition, the consortium has designed a guidance system for commercial trucks that would both assume control of a truck heading into danger and alert the driver to reassume control; and

WHEREAS, the consortium is seeking funding, in the amount of $3.5 million, to develop a prototype of the truck-safety system from the Department of Defense, through its Advanced Research Projects Agency, and offering to match the Agency's funding, which would come from the Technology Reinvestment Program budget; and

WHEREAS, the development of a much needed truck-safety device, which could well prevent accidents and save lives, is an entirely appropriate use of funds earmarked for defense conversion through the Technology Reinvestment Program, created in 1993 to help defense contractors find new, nonmilitary markets for their technology and resources; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Congress be hereby requested to urge the Department of Defense, through its Technology Reinvestment Program, to provide the requested funding for the development of this potentially most useful truck-safety device; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia on this issue.