AAA: More Needed To Prevent Tractor Trailers From Hitting Parkway Overpasses
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new report by AAA New York is calling on state and federal officials to find ways to prevent tractor trailers from hitting parkway overpasses.
The report, which was released Tuesday, identifies 10 locations in Westchester County where trucks have hit low clearance bridges and overpasses the most between the years 2002 and 2011.
The report found that about 70 percent of all statewide crashes involving trucks and overpasses occur in the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island areas.
"It seems the proliferation of parkways that we have in this area and the low overpasses are part of the reason and a lot has to do with out-of-town truckers being in our area and not having perhaps commercial GPS devices that will alert them to height restrictions," Robert Sinclair, Jr., spokesman for AAA New York, told 1010 WINS.
Truck drivers unfamiliar with the area often wander onto roads with truck restrictions and get stuck, which can cause massive traffic delays, the report found.
Sinclair said more work needs to be done to warn truck drivers about height and road restrictions.
"There is a lot to be desired as far as the warning systems, as far signs and lights and those kinds of things are concerned," he said. "There needs to be some extra work done on the part of the state and the city DOT to get some more signage and warning devices out there for truckers before they get on these roadways."
The majority of hits happened on the Hutchinson River Parkway, according to the report.
See the full top 10 list below:
- Route 120A/King Street - Hutchinson River Parkway: 93 Hits
- Mamaroneck Road - Hutchinson River Parkway: 68 Hits
- Lincoln Avenue - Hutchinson River Parkway: 36 Hits
- Route 125 - Hutchinson River Parkway: 31 Hits
- East 3rd Street - Hutchinson River Parkway: 30 Hits
- Route 117 - Saw Mill River Parkway: 26 Hits
- Wilmot Road - Hutchinson River Parkway: 23 Hits
- Cross County Parkway - Bronx River Parkway: 23 Hits
- Route 127 - Hutchinson River Parkway: 19 Hits
- Mill Road - Hutchinson River Parkway: 16 Hits
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