No Quick Fix for Safety Program
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GAO: U.S. Truck safety plan At the request of Congress, the Department of Transportation’s inspector general is developing recommendations on truck safety while reviews continue.
The inspector general, Kenneth Mead, wants the Federal Highway Administration to use its resources more effectively and motor carrier safety inspectors to spend less time on paperwork and more time on enforcement. Also on his list is the need for accident and traffic violation data to be reported by states faster and more accurately.
He suggests increasing driver accountability by requiring inspections similar to those conducted by pilots before takeoff. This would allow authorities to penalize both the driver and company for out-of-service violations concerning a vehicle’s condition.
In addition, Mead would make trucks undergo annual inspections, set a 60 mph top speed limit for trucks and use satellite technology to ensure drivers are not on the road for excessive hours.
Over at the National Transportation Safety Board, Chairman Jim Hall supports using more technology, especially to reduce crashes. He would like to see rear-end collision avoidance systems installed on trucks.
The Army’s truck fleet is outfitted with collision warning systems, and some trucking companies, such as U.S. Xpress Enterprises in Chattanooga, Tenn., equip their trucks with such devices.
he NTSB also wants on-board recorders on trucks similar to those used on jetliners.
The board will hold public hearings April 12 and 13 at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., to discuss truck- and bus-related accidents and to evaluate the oversight of those vehicles, Hall said.
Brian O’Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said truck safety would be improved by increased enforcement of speeding laws, including the use of surveillance cameras to detect speeding trucks.
For the full story, see the March 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
