New Program to Reduce Truck Accidents

Thursday, 14 January 2010 08:11

The federal agency that oversees the safety regulations for large trucks on the nation's roadways is rolling out a new program aimed at lowering the number of preventable crashes, injuries and fatalities. That's important news for anyone who shares the road with large vehicles.

By summer 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans a nationwide implementation of its Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 initiative. The FMCSA says the initiative is a result of a slow down in the rate of decrease for traffic accidents involving large vehicles over the years, prompting the agency to explore new ways to further reduce large vehicle accidents. According to FMSCA records, in the late 1970s, there were approximately 6 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. By 2002, this number had dropped to around 2 fatalities, and was holding steady through 2006.

CSA 2010 applies to commercial freight haulers, buses, and other large vehicles. It is aimed at effectively identifying and intervening quickly with drivers and carriers who are not complying with safety rules, the agency says. The measures have been pilot tested in Colorado, Georgia, New Jersey, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Montana.

"CSA 2010 is currently being field tested in several states, and to date, the results have been extremely encouraging," stated Gary Woodford, program manager for CSA 2010. "The SIs [safety inspectors]in the test states are expanding their safety impact by contacting more carriers, identifying specific safety issues and achieving remedies." According to the agency, the initiative's main goals compared with the previous safety initiative are to "increase contact with carriers and drivers, improve performance measurements for identifying high risk motor carrier and driver behaviors" and" to correct high risk behaviors before they become chronic and habitual."

Some of the penalties for carriers who are not in compliance range from FMCSA-ordered repairs, delays and fines to being ordered not to be on the road.

Enforcement

The agency claims CSA 2010 furnishes a set of tools to address specific carrier's safety problems, whereas the previou intiative is a "one-size-fits all tool." Where the current system generally takes place on-site, CSA 2010 investigations can take place at a carrier's place of business or off-site. Central to the CSA 2010 approach is that its interventions focus on improving behaviors linked to crash risk, whereas the previous system focused on broad compliance based on a set of acute/critical violations. CSA 2010 interventions provide the ability to focus on specific safety problems while the earlier system required a broad examination of the carrier.

Public Access

The public will continue to be able to view motor carrier data, the FMCSA says. The agency says that logged-in motor carriers will have access to some information that will not be made public, including driver names, licenses, and some personal information. And there is no plan in the works to make a Crash Indicator page available for public viewing, the FMCSA says.

Looking Down the Road

Since what the FMCSA terms as "non-preventable accidents" will continue to happen, the agency is developing a protocol for determining crash accountability for fatal and non-fatal commercial motor vehicle crashes as part of CSA 2010. The goal, the agency says, is to include only crash records in which "a carrier was shown to have some level of accountability for the crash event."