The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed a permanent crash preventability determination program to gain additional data to recognize possible safety risks on the nation’s roads.
The program examines the feasibility, costs and benefits of determining and displaying the preventability of certain crash types.
A temporary version of it has been in place since August 2017, with the FMCSA reviewing more than 5,600 crashes submitted by truck and bus companies to determine if the crash could have been prevented by the carrier. In 94% of cases, it was found that the accidents were not preventable by the driver or carrier.
Earlier this year at the Mid-America Trucking Show, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced the Department of Transportation’s plan to make the current demonstration program permanent. The FMCSA is now seeking public comment on the proposed changes to the program. The comment period will last 60 days.
“Data drives our agency’s decisions, and the information we’ve received and analyzed during the demonstration project informed our action today to expand and improve the crash preventability program,” said Raymond Martinez, FMCSA administrator. “We’ve listened to carriers, drivers, and other commercial motor vehicle stakeholders throughout each step of this process, and strongly encourage all interested parties to submit comments on our proposed changes.”