FMCSA’s Crash-Fault Study Complete, Under Agency Review

A federal study of how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could assign fault for truck crashes has been completed, but is being reviewed in-house by the agency, officials said.

“The analysis is complete, and the report is undergoing internal and peer review,” agency spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said Sept. 4. “Once complete, the agency will set a date for public release.”

One of the primary objectives of the agency’s research has centered on whether police accident reports from crashes are a “sufficient, consistent and reliable source of information” on which to base a weighted crash system.

The study also is attempting to assess whether a carrier’s role in an accident is a stronger predictor of future crash risk than crash involvement alone.

American Trucking Associations and many carriers have been critical of the current FMCSA system that lists crashes in a carrier’s public safety measurement profile, but does not indicate whether the carrier was at fault.