FMCSA to announce crash preventability pilot program

A little more than a year after initially proposing the program, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans soon to announce its final plans for a demonstration program to determine whether certain crashes should be excluded from a motor carrier's safety record. FMCSA Deputy Administrator Daphne Jefferson disclosed the upcoming announcement July 18 during a subcommittee hearing of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The agency's notice could come as early as this week.

As proposed last July, the FMCSA program would have involved crashes that are deemed as generally “less complex.” A crash would be considered non-preventable only if documentation established that a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) was struck by a motorist who was convicted of one of four offenses or a related offense:

• Driving under the influence;

• Driving in the wrong direction

• Striking the CMV in the rear

• Striking the CMV while it was legally stopped

It is not yet known whether the final program will be limited to these types of crashes or will consider an expanded menu. ​While the trucking industry generally welcomed the idea of a program that moved toward removing non-preventable crashes from a carrier's record, many faulted the specifics of the proposed program -- especially the very narrow category of crashes that could be reviewed. To view comments on the proposed program, click here.