Tougher trucking rules sought

WASHINGTON -- Wyoming and Arkansas are the deadliest states for truck crashes, according to a safety group that yesterday called for tougher federal regulation to reduce fatalities hovering above 100 a week nationwide for years.

The safest states for truck crashes were Rhode Island and Massachusetts, based on the number of fatalities per 100,000 residents during 2005, the most recent year with complete figures.

Seven years since its creation by Congress to improve the safety of trucks, the federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration "is still putting cargo over people," said Joan Claybrook, chairwoman of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways.

In 1999, when the agency was created, 5,380 people died in crashes with big trucks, Claybrook said. It was 5,212 in 2005.

Ian M. Grossman, spokesman for the Motor Carrier Safety Administration, was not immediately available to respond to the criticism.