April 12, 2023 • By Heavy Duty Trucking Staff • Bookmark +
The FMCSA wants to broaden what types of crashes it will consider in its Crash Preventability Determination Program.
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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing to again broaden the definition of crashes that it includes in its Crash Preventability Determination Program.
That program was developed to address industry concerns about all crashes being used in the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), even those that were clearly not preventable. One of the major complaints about the SMS system when the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program rolled out in 2010 was that all crashes counted against a motor carrier's scores. Why, people asked, should carriers be penalized for a crash caused by someone else running a red light, traveling the wrong direction, committing suicide by leaping from an overpass into the path of an oncoming truck, or nunerous other scenarios?
The Crash Preventability Determination Programprogram has been in operation since May 2020. Currently it reviews 16 specific crash types and modifies information in the SMS to distinguish not-preventable crashes. The existing program was an expansion of the agency’s previous demonstration program that reviewed eight crash types.
In a notice and request for comments published in the Federal Register, FMCSA proposes modifying existing crash types to broaden eligibility, removing the distinction between direct and indirect strikes, and differentiating some types for improved reporting and use of the data to identify ways to reduce crashes involving non-motorists.
In addition, FMCSA proposes that four new crash types be included in the program.
These proposed changes are expected to double the size of the current program and provide more data allowing the agency to analyze the effects of a carrier’s not-preventable crashes on its overall safety.
According to FMCSA data, between May 1, 2020, and December 30, 2022, the industry has submitted nearly 40,000 preventability determination requests through the agency’s DataQs system. Approximately 72.5% of those requests were “eligible,” meaning they fit within the 16 crash types identified by the agency. Of the eligible crashes submitted, 96% were deemed non-preventable on the part of the commercial driver.
FMCSA wants to test the following four additional crash types:
If the FMCSA makes these proposed changes, the full list of the eligible crash types for the CPDP would be:
To review the full proposal and submit comments, use the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
More on proposed SMS changes: FMCSA Nixes IRT in Proposed Changes in Identifying Unsafe Motor Carriers
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