Road safety display at Molson Indy
July 22, 2005
Race fans attending the Molson Indy car race (July 8, 9 and 10) at Toronto's Exhibition Place had an opportunity to see British driver Justin Wilson win this year's race and to find out how to safely share the road with a tractor-trailer. During the three-day racing event, members of the OTA Road Knights Team hosted a large exhibit designed to raise awareness of safe road sharing techniques. Car racing enthusiasts were invited to sit behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer that had cars parked in its blind spots to demonstrate how vehicles can disappear from the truck driver's view. This is the third time OTA's Road Knights have hosted a special road safety display in conjunction with the Molson Indy in Toronto.
The OTA Road Knights Team is a group of 9 professional transport drivers with first class driving records who raise awareness about the economic importance of the industry and how car and truck drivers can safely share the road. The team's mission is to help make our roadways safer by encouraging all road users to be partners in safety.
Sultry weather and capacity crowds greeted the Road Knights staffing the exhibit held inside the Automotive Building. The Road Knights display featured OTA's road sharing education booth, educational brochures (for visitors to take home) and a blind spot demonstration incorporating a tractor-trailer provided by Bison Transport.
The Bison Transport tractor-trailer provided to OTA for the event was a huge hit with Molson Indy fans. The tractor-trailer features a mural of the Toronto and Montreal skylines and several smiling faces of the people of the trucking industry. The large mural started on the truck cab and finished at the back of the trailer doors.
Thank you to the following Road Knights and their company sponsors for making their participation possible:
Robert Morley, TKO Transportation
Trevor Weir, Thomson Terminals
Matt Graveline, McArthur Express
Angus MacCormac, Bison Transport
The exhibit took place on all three days of the Molson Indy and is part of a safe driving and collision prevention program held in conjunction with the popular racing event. This year's safety event, directed by safety group Accident Awareness Inc. was sponsored by State Farm Insurance and featured numerous safety related displays. OTA extends thanks to Bison Transport for providing the tractor-trailer for the event and to Ford for providing vehicles used in the blind spot demonstration.
The Molson Indy celebrates 20 years in Toronto this year. It is one of the country's largest outdoor sports events with almost 200,000 visitors attending the 2005 show -- making it Toronto's biggest outdoor summer spectacle.
Photos: To view some of these photos that have been posted to the OTA web site, please follow this link: http://www.ontruck.org/news/news/2005/pnews_2005_07_14_122948_r.php3
