Dive Brief:

• The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has announced that it will distribute "Slow Down To Get Around" (SDTGA) decals to its members, upon request, at no charge starting today. This is the second year that SWANA is distributing the decals.
• The SDTGA program, which encourages motorists to drive slowly and carefully near waste and recycling collection vehicles, has been implemented in 12 states across the nation and will possibly spread to a 13th state later this year. 
• SWANA has also been expanding safety practices through a chapter-based Safety Ambassador program, as well as various workshops and webinars.

Dive Insight:

As the SDTGA program slowly expands, these decals are a small yet effective way to remind motorists of the law. The law mandates that drivers change lanes or slow down to at least 10 mph below the speed limit when passing a sanitation truck, or face a fine of up to $500. While slowing down in such a manner may seem natural for some drivers, refuse collection is still ranked as the fifth most dangerous occupation in the U.S., due in-part to vehicle collisions or workers getting struck while working outside of the truck. 

3rd Eye, a division of Alliance Wireless Technologies, Inc. (AWTI) and a sponsor of the SDTGA program, is one example of a company advancing the industry toward more safe operations through technology. 3rd Eye has worked with haulers like Waste Pro to install 360-degree external video systems that alert drivers of potential dangers on the road, which fall in-line with other industry technologies like electronic logging devices (ELDs) and cloud-based fleet management software. As these digital, advanced improvements to collections become more mainstream, it is hopeful that the industry will soon see refuse collection drop off of the most dangerous occupations list.