Page 496 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

The keys to controlling unsafe drivers are education and
enforcement. Education for truckers should go beyond

load limits and gear ratios. It should stress professional

conduct. Most automobile drivers know the terror of

having twenty tons of steel and cargo inches from their

bumper, and quite a few have seen sleep-deprived

truckers driving erratically. Education is one way to
eliminate such dangerous behavior. For those who will

not be educated, enforcement is the answer. Heavier

penalties for speeding and reckless driving should be

enacted and enforced. Truck drivers who drive under the

influence of drugs or alcohol should face a mandatory

minimum license suspension of one year and mandatory
counseling. Those who repeat the offense should never

be allowed behind the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler

again. Education and enforcement will put dangerous

truckers out of business and help the image of those

who are already safe and courteous drivers.

Measures also need to be taken against two types of

truck pollution: air pollution and ear pollution. Automobile

emissions are strictly regulated, but “truck yuck”

continues to pollute the air over interstates and cities.
Like automakers, truck manufacturers should be

required to develop and install better pollution control

devices. Trucks that do not belch clouds of black, foul-

smelling diesel smoke will be much more welcome on

the road. Noise pollution is another problem that should