Tucked away in the same document in which the National Transportation Safety Board recommended cell phone bans for all drivers was a reiteration of previous recommendations to require video event recorders in heavy trucks, look at mandating collision avoidance systems, and other truck-specific issues.
This week, the NTSB released its report on an August 2010 accident on Interstate 44 in Gray Summit, Mo. A pickup truck ran into the back of a bobtail truck-tractor that had slowed for a construction zone. The pickup truck, in turn, was struck from behind by a school bus. That school bus was then hit by a second school bus that had been following. Two people died and 38 were injured.
The NTSB's investigation revealed that the pickup driver sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes preceding the accident. The last text was received moments before the pickup struck the tractor-trailer.
There has been a lot of coverage of the board's recommendation in that report to ban driver use of "personal electronic devices," such as cell phones, while operating a motor vehicle. But there were many more recommendations, as well, some targeting commercial vehicles. These are only recommendations; NTSB rulings do not have the force of law.
The board recommended that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration require all heavy commercial vehicles to be equipped with video event recorders that capture data in connection with the driver and the outside environment and roadway in the event of a crash or sudden deceleration event.
The board also wants FMCSA to require motor carriers to "review and use video event recorder information in conjunction with other performance data to verify that driver actions are in accordance with company and regulatory rules and procedures essential to safety."
Had the Volvo tractor, the two school buses, and the motorcoach been required to have video event recorders, the events leading up to this accident could have been more definitively assessed, noted the board. In addition, the use of video event recorder data for managing driver behavior could assist school bus operators in identifying driver performance issues before they lead to accidents.
Also in the recommendations to the FMCSA: Develop a comprehensive medical oversight program for interstate commercial drivers that combats the "inappropriate issuance" of medical certificates for drivers. This is an area where the agency is already making progress. A final rule setting up a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners will probably be published before the end of the year. It's also in the process of drafting a proposal to update rules on conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to sleep disorders.
It also reiterated a previous recommendation to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to look at mandating collision warning systems with adaptive cruise control, active braking and electronic stability control systems for commercial vehicles. It noted that forward collision warning systems on the two accident buses -- and possibly on the GMC pickup -- could have prevented the accident or at least mitigated its severity.
NHTSA is well along on a proposal to require electronic stability control on heavy trucks, with a proposal likely to be published by the end of February.
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