ATA warns against tailgating
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Trucking Associations is urging automobile drivers to avoid the dangerous practice of tailgating heavy trucks in efforts to increase fuel economy. The association also is advising fleet safety directors to warn their drivers and owner/operators about the resurgence of this dangerous practice among automobile drivers, known as “drafting.”
Drafting involves driving a car very close behind a truck to use the reduction of wind resistance to reduce the amount of energy needed to propel the auto.
“Few driving behaviours are more dangerous on our highways than drafting,” said ATA president and CEO Bill Graves. ATA has learned drafting is being promoted by Web sites dedicated to ‘hypermiling’ – or trying to save fuel.
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