Letter to DOT Secretary Buttigieg: Raise the Minimum Insurance for Interstate Motor Carriers
March 23, 2022
The Honorable Pete Buttigieg
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
Washington D.C. 20590
Dear Secretary Buttigieg:
We are survivors and friends and families of truck crash victims from across the country, and we write to urge you to increase the minimum insurance requirements for commercial motor vehicles hauling non-hazardous property in interstate commerce from $750,000 per crash event (49 CFR § 387.9), and then index the new amount to inflation every five years. This long overdue change will make the trucking industry safer and protect families of victims and truck crash survivors from financial ruin.
As a result of our truck crashes, some of us incurred debilitating injuries that cost us millions of dollars to properly redress. Many of us lost wages either directly or indirectly after losing a loved one in a truck crash. All of us have been forced to make sense of our new normal.
While increasing the minimum insurance has no bearing on the outcomes of our past crashes, it will help protect the thousands of families who will be adversely impacted by future large truck crashes. As you know, the recently released 2020 data from Fatality Analysis Report System (FARS), revealed that 4,965 people perished in large truck crashes, representing an increase of 31 percent since 2011.
No one should have to endure what some of us have gone through because the trucking company that crashed into them wants to hold onto 1980-level coverage in 2022. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the amount $750,000 set in 1980 would have the same purchasing power as $5,255,989.61 in 2021, if the amount was raised to account for medical-cost inflation. This does not even factor in the inflation that we are experiencing in 2022.
We thank you for acknowledging the importance of increasing the minimum insurance and hope you will take the opportunity to make trucking safer and protect families like ours by using the authority granted to you under Section 31139(b)(1) of title 49 to address four decades of inaction.
Sincerely,
Kate Brown
Gurnee, IL
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Mother of Graham Brown
Injured in a truck crash, 5/2/2005
Laurie Higginbotham
Memphis, TN
Board Member, IST
Mother of Michael Higginbotham
Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/2014
Kerry Rois
Lakewood, OH
Injured in a truck crash, 1/14/2015
Marianne Karth, AnnaLeahMary.com
Raleigh, NC
Injured in a truck crash, 5/4/2013
Mother of AnnaLeah and Mary Karth
Killed in a truck crash, 5/4/2013
Courtney Sprague, Dave Fons Memorial Fund
Milford, MI
Daughter of Dave Fons
Killed in a truck crash, 12/11/2017
William and Cashawna Anderson
Brooksville, FL
Parents of Nadia Anderson
Killed in a truck crash, 1/19/2017
Joe and Ida Simon
Lafayette, LA
Parents of Matthew Simon
Killed in a truck crash, 4/4/2017
Vicki Siragusa
Mooresville, NC
Sister of Linda Jowers, Sister-in-law of Timothy Jowers, Aunt of Brianna and Alexander Jowers
Killed in a truck crash, 9/19/2018
Allison Maselli
East Schodack, NY
Wife of Mark Kowalski
Killed in a truck crash, 1/21/2011
Amber Chafin
Mount Dora, FL
Injured in a truck crash, 8/6/2020
Releia and Charlie Warren
Jacksonville, FL
Releia injured in a truck crash, 1/7/2020
Parents of Eli Warren
Killed in a truck crash, 1/7/2020
Warren and Tammy Huffman
Lake Odessa, MI
Twin Brother and Sister-in-law of DPS Officer Timothy A. Huffman, Badge #5430
Killed in a truck crash, 5/6/2013
Jessica Balsizer
Tiffin, OH
Daughter of Cal and Lisa Balsizer, Sister of Callie Balsizer
Killed in a truck crash, 8/3/2018
Georgia Davis
Memphis, TN
Gisela Weinland
Sarasota, FL
Injured in a truck crash, 4/19/2016
Wife of Robert “Bob” Weinland
Killed in a truck crash, 4/19/2016
Kelly and Tony Dugas
Brevard County, FL
Parents of Alexandria Dugas
Killed in a truck crash, 1/21/2011
Shelly Rosengaten
Germantown, TN
Monica Malarczyk
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Injured in a truck crash, 12/29/2015
Daughter of Ryszard and Anita Malarczyk
Killed in a truck crash, 12/29/2015
Ashley Abernathy
Memphis, TN
Kristy Michaud and Thomas Hartman
Agoura Hills, CA
Parents of Jameson, Rowan and Everett
Entire family injured in a truck crash, 7/27/2019
Akisha McCarter
Toledo, OH
Wife of Michael McCarter
Killed in a truck crash, 10/15/2021
Cathy Forman
Bloomfield, CT
Sister of Leslie Rosenberg
Aunt of Sophie Rosenberg
Killed in a truck crash, 10/15/2018
Maureen and Brian Hentz
Cherry Hill, NJ
Brian injured in a truck crash, 7/20/2015
Sarah Jo Plucker-Wright
Middletown, OH
Injured in a truck crash, 8/7/2018
Ken Garland
Germantown, TN
Ashley Garland
Germantown, TN
Shirley Preston
Springfield, OH
Mother of Caitlin Preston
Killed in a truck crash, 5/28/2019
Patricia and Evelio Ramos
Brunswick, OH
Parents of Jason Ramos
Killed in a truck crash, 6/25/2015
David Barber
Cordova, TN
Donna Humphreys
Collierville, TN
John Lannen
Reston, VA
Co-Chair, Institute for Safer Trucking
Tracy Quinichett Whitehead
Laurel, MD
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Mother of Channing Quinichett
Killed in a truck crash, 1/21/2009
Eric Hein
Portland, OR
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Father of Riley Hein
Killed in a truck crash, 11/13/2015
Peter Malarczyk
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Injured in a truck crash, 12/29/2015
Son of Ryszard and Anita Malarczyk
Killed in a truck crash, 12/29/2015
Melissa Gouge
Washington, D.C.
Cousin of Amy Corbin
Killed in a truck crash, 8/18/1997
Rick Watts
Montclair, VA
Husband of Tiffany Watts,
Son-in-Law of Sandra Anderson,
Stepfather of Kelsie and Savannah Garrigues
Killed in a truck crash, 6/25/2015
Julie Magnan Patrissi
South Burlington, VT
Injured in a truck crash, 1/31/2002
Wife of David Magnan
Killed in a truck crash, 1/31/2002
Randall Higginbotham
Memphis, TN
Father of Michael Higginbotham
Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/2014
Allen Higginbotham
Memphis, TN
Brother of Michael Higginbotham
Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/2014
Ashley McMillan
Memphis, TN
Girlfriend of Michael Higginbotham
Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/2014
Laura and Rich Fredricks,
Emily Fredricks Foundation
East Brunswick, NJ
Parents of Emily Fredricks
Killed in a truck crash, 11/28/2017
Lois Durso-Hawkins, StopUnderrides.Org
Saint Augustine, FL
Mother of Roya Sadigh
Killed in a truck crash, 11/24/2004
Sister-in-law of Michael Hawkins
Injured in a truck crash, 6/16/2003
Mark Hawkins, StopUnderrides.Org
Saint Augustine, FL
Father of Roya Sadigh
Killed in a truck crash, 11/24/2004
Brother of Michael Hawkins
Injured in a truck crash, 6/16/2003
Cynthia Harvell
Bowie, MD
Mother of Thurinton Harvell, Jr.
Injured in a truck crash, 7/15/2019
Wife of Thurinton Harvell, Sr.
Killed in a truck crash, 7/15/2019
Bonnie Pierce
Charlotte, NC
Mother of Terry Pierce, Killed in a truck crash 12/10/1993
Laura Norman
Memphis, TN
Clinton Gilley
Jacksonville, FL
Brother of David Gilley, Brother-in-law of Christine Gilley, Uncle of Grace and Jack Gilley
Killed in a truck crash, 4/13/2017
Susan Peugh
Germantown, TN
Cesar Godinez
Wichita, KS
Michael Hawkins
Travelers Rest, SC
Injured in a truck crash, 6/16/2003
Eric Keller
Palatka, FL
Injured in a truck crash, 8/1/2007
Fiancé of Toni Ann Johnson
Killed in a truck crash, 8/1/2007
Keith Wolf
Merrill, WI
Father of Alex Wolf
Killed in a truck crash, 11/20/2019
Mike & Vicky Acosta
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Towanna James
Phoenix, AZ
Daughter of Naomi James
Sister of Carla Blissitt
Killed in a truck crash, 4/11/2014
Elisa Luckey
Germantown, TN
Laurie Merritt
Palatka, FL
Mother of Toni Ann Johnson
Killed in a truck crash, 8/1/2007
Marilyn Fleming
Wells, ME
Trish Gulley
Memphis, TN
Margaret Garland
Germantown, TN
Baabi Das
Washington, DC
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Jennifer Walsh
Washington, DC
Board Member, Institute for Safer Trucking
Harry Adler
Washington, DC
Co-Chair, Institute for Safer Trucking
cc:
Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
Robin Hutcheson, Acting Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Jack Van Steenberg, Executive Director and Chief Safety Officer, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration