FMCSA: Commercial vehicle roadside inspections saved nearly 500 lives in 2012

Washington – Commercial vehicle roadside safety inspections and traffic enforcement programs saved an estimated 472 lives in fiscal year 2012, according to findings released Feb. 29 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

FMCSA said roadside safety inspections and enforcement programs also prevented almost 9,000 injuries and averted more than 14,000 crashes involving large commercial trucks and buses in FY 2012 (the most recent year for which data is available).

Since 2001, the safety programs have saved more than 7,000 lives, according to FMCSA. The agency works with state and local officials to fund more than 3.5 million unannounced roadside safety inspections on large trucks and buses every year. Meanwhile, the commercial vehicle traffic enforcement program includes roadside inspections after a driver is stopped for a moving violation. Commercial vehicles that fail inspections are immediately removed from the roads.

“We should recognize the essential role played by thousands of carriers and millions of professional truck and bus drivers on the road every day who understand the importance of protecting the safety of the traveling public while also doing their part to move the economy,” FMCSA Acting Administrator T.F. Scott Darling III said in a press release. “Our analysis demonstrates that inspectors at roadside and state troopers conducting traffic enforcement are making a vital difference to prevent crashes. In addition, the truck and bus industries are working every day to comply with federal safety regulations designed to make sure that everyone reaches their destination safe and sound.”