FMCSA proposes demonstration program on CMV crash records

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed to develop and implement a trial program that would exclude non-preventable crashes from motor carriers’ safety records.

The agency currently factors all crashes – including those in which commercial motor vehicle drivers were not at fault – into its Safety Measurement System data. The pilot program would last for at least two years to determine the effects of removing certain crashes from the SMS.

FMCSA stated that it hopes to learn more about four crash scenarios involving CMVs. A crash would be considered “not preventable” if a motorist struck a CMV and was convicted of:

• Driving under the influence
• Driving the wrong direction
• Striking the CMV in the rear
• Striking the CMV while it was legally stopped

Comments are due Sept. 12.

The Arlington, VA-based American Trucking Associations praised FMCSA’s proposal.

“Since FMCSA began using crash history to rate motor carriers’ safety, ATA has argued that crashes a driver could not have prevented shouldn’t be counted on a carrier’s safety record,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said in a press release. “[FMCSA’s] announced pilot project is a step toward that goal and we appreciate FMCSA adopting ATA’s call to provide a way for carriers to strike these tragic, but non-preventable crashes from their record.”