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News 12 Staff

642025WCaaa_2025-06-04-06-49-43

Here at News 12 recently we've told you about multiple accidents in our area involving brake failures and trucks. Police say one happened in Duchess County where a commercial box truck's brakes failed, causing the driver to go off the road and hitting some trees. That case was fatal. The other was on Friday in Portchester, where police say a pickup truck's brakes failed and hit a pole. Here to give us more insight on safety concerns is Robert Sinclair from AAA Northeast. All right, let's talk about why this is happening. Well, we're seeing this happen, uh, throughout the state, with more than 16,000 crashes involving trucks and 151 of them involved brake failure. And nationwide, um, in the last year we have data for 2023, there were more than 5400 people killed. And 47 of those fatal crashes with trucks involved brake failure. It happens simply as a result of physics. So we're talking about large trucks, 10,000 pounds or more, um, trailer trucks are supposed to be a maximum of 88,000 pounds and you Consider the weight of these trucks when they get into a confrontation with a car or an SUV, no matter how no matter how heavy those vehicles might be, that vehicle is going to lose, the truck is going to win. You don't have boxing matches with heavy weights versus flyweights and That's the problem big heavy vehicles running into smaller vehicles, um or pedestrians or cyclists and unfortunately, uh, those the the truck is going to win. So what can you do as a driver when you're heading on many parkways and highways, well, just highways because parkways trucks are not allowed, but what can you do as a driver to make sure that you're safe? Uh, what should you be doing on the road? How far away should you be from these trucks? Fill us in with some good information that way, Robert. At AAA we have a brochure that says you have to know KNOW, the no zones and oh zones around trucks, and essentially you want to give trucks lots of room. Uh, they have visibility problems. Uh, you may have seen the bumper sticker on the back of trucks that say if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you. That certainly applies. You don't want to switch lanes and get in front of. Trucks and jam on your brakes because it takes trucks a lot more distance to stop compared to a passenger vehicle and if you're right behind or alongside the truck, it might not be able to see you uh when it comes to changing a lane or stopping short. So giving them plenty of distance is very important and there's a federal program called MSA Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. That gives grants to local law enforcement when they go out and look for trucks that might have defective brakes or uh some other kind of equipment problem or even the drivers who haven't gotten sufficient amount of rest. They're supposed to keep very detailed logs and get sufficient. Rest so they aren't so they aren't fatigued when they're behind the wheels, but giving the truck lots and lots of room is the best strategy. All right, Robert Sinclair from AAA. We appreciate your time and excellent safety information there this morning so we can stay safe on the roads. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me.

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Robert Sinclair from AAA Northeast joined News 12 to explain how often brake failure happens in trucks and what drivers can do to stay safe.

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AAA expert shares advice after multiple truck brake failures

Robert Sinclair from AAA Northeast joined News 12 to explain how often brake failure happens in trucks and what drivers can do to stay safe.

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