FMCSA to Let Carriers Dispute Crash Fault
Photo: FMCSA
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Photo: FMCSA
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Following up on a two-year-old proposal, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will launch on Aug. 1 a demonstration program that will enable motor carriers to dispute the determination of certain truck crashes as “preventable.”
The program could lead to improved Compliance, Safety, accountability scores for carriers if the agency reclassifies the cause of crashes previoulsy deemed preventable..
Based on recommendations made by the American Trucking Associations and other public comments submitted on an earlier notice abouit an agenbcy crash-causation study, on July 12, 2016 the agency proposed that it would accept from carriers requests for data review (RDRs) on accident determinations via a demonstration program.
Under this scheme, the agency would accept RDRs “to evaluate the preventability of certain categories of crashes” through its DataQs national data-correction system.
More specifically, FMCSA proposed that a crash challenged through an RDR would be found “not preventable” when documentation submitted with the RDR established that the crash was, indeed, not preventable.
The newly released notice, published in the Federal Register for July 27, gives the Aug.1 start date for the demonstration program and describes the crash types that will qualify for the demo; the process for submitting RDRs to evaluate the preventability of a crash; and how “decisions on preventability” will be displayed in agency systems. It also explains the data to be collected through this program “for use in future decisions about a longer-term crash preventability program.”
As of Aug. 1, carriers may begin submitting RDRs on crashes— which must have occurred on or after June 1, 2017. FMCSA stated that “the burden is on the submitter to show by compelling evidence that the crash was not preventable. However, in these and all crashes, FMCSA reserves the right to request additional information on the crash, which may include any documentation the carrier is required to …Read the rest of this story
