Safety

It has been 25 years since a Texas family purchased the patent for a device that would keep truck tires inflated, a move that proved prescient.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — The devastation inflicted by Hurricane Michael came into focus Oct. 11 with rows upon rows of homes found smashed to pieces, and rescue crews began making their way into the stricken areas in hopes of accounting for hundreds of people who may have defied evacuation orders.

U.S. auto safety regulators are moving to allow a new generation of brighter, self-dimming headlights that won’t blind other drivers on the road ahead. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing to permit so-called adaptive driving beam headlights on new cars according to the agency.

Four House Democrats have asked the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General to investigate a glider truck study by a Tennessee Tech University researcher. The study already is the subject of a research misconduct investigation by the university.

Senators are negotiating safety provisions in an autonomous vehicles bill that proponents insist could advance before lawmakers leave Capitol Hill ahead of the midterm elections next month.

The majority of the requests brought before top Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials at a public listening session on hours-of-service rules can be distilled into one desire: flexibility.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration relaxed hours-of-service regulations in eight states as Hurricane Michael made landfall Oct. 10, battering the Florida Panhandle with 155 mph winds.

WASHINGTON — Moist air, warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and ideal wind patterns turbocharged Hurricane Michael in the hours before it smacked Florida’s Panhandle.Hurricane Michael’s wind speed increased by 50 mph in 24 hours, to 140 mph Oct. 10.

What techniques are fleets using to pursue lower insurance costs as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revamps its Compliance, Safety, Accountability scoring system? Our Oct. 17 LiveOnWeb program, "Managing Risk in Trucking," explores this topic. Watch the replay.

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ California Infrastructure Report Card Committee released a portion of the state’s scorecard months ahead of schedule to raise awareness about infrastructure and funding issues.