The National Transportation Safety Board’s annual “most wanted list” grew from 10 to 11 this year with the addition of truck and bus safety.

During a public board meeting in Washington, DC, the agency added a call for on-board recording devices in all modes of transportation and new hours of service for truck and bus drivers.
The NTSB started the list 10 years ago to call attention to safety recommendations that weren't being adopted. Usually, there are only 10 items on the list. This year, however, the board added an 11th item -- truck and bus safety.
The new item reads: “Modify trucking rating standards to identify how safe trucking companies are; modify the hours-of-service drivers can drive and increase vehicle standards.”
NTSB member Barry Sweedler said the truck and bus item was added to the list because more than 5,000 people are killed each year in truck and bus crashes, and that number has not significantly improved in recent years.
Two other items on the list that could affect trucking, although they are not specifically aimed at the trucking industry:
* Study fatigue in transportation and update regulations.
* Require devices that will automatically record information leading up to crashes in all modes of transportation.
Since it was created in 1967, the safety board, which does not have to consider the cost of its recommendations, has sent more than 11,000 proposals to government regulators and transportation industries. NTSB chairman Jim Hall says nearly 83% of them have been accepted.
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