Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information on Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems Page: 4 of 27
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B-281646
While no reliable nationwide data exist on the causes of crashes involving
large trucks, some data exist on the extent to which factors such as drivers'
behavior, vehicles' mechanical condition, the roadway, and the
environment may contribute to these crashes. These data indicate that
passenger vehicle drivers' behavior is a significant contributing factor to
crashes. For example, in 1997, contributing factors related to passenger
vehicle drivers were reported in 80 percent of crashes involving both trucks
and passenger vehicles (these data are based only on fatal truck crashes
and are not the result of thorough investigations of crash scenes). To better
tailor its activities to address the factors that are most likely to contribute
to truck crashes, the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety plans to
design and fund a study to obtain more detailed information on such
factors. Because the factors that contribute to crashes do not vary
significantly from year to year, the results of the study are estimated to be
relevant for about 15 years.
The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety has undertaken a number
of activities and plans to undertake others to improve truck safety. These
actions include identifying high-risk carriers that should receive reviews of
their compliance with safety regulations, educating passenger vehicle
drivers about how to share the road with large trucks, and developing
technology to alert truck drivers of the onset of drowsiness. While these
activities address what are currently considered to be significant
contributing factors to truck crashes, the Office of Motor Carrier and
Highway Safety's effectiveness is limited by (1) long-standing data
problems, (2) the length of time it takes to complete activities, and (3) the
unknown effect of its campaign to educate passenger vehicle drivers about
the limitations of large trucks. For example, the Office of Motor Carrier
and Highway Safety's effort to identify high-risk carriers for safety
improvements depends in part on having reasonably complete data on the
number of crashes experienced by carriers. However, states did not report
an estimated 38 percent of all crashes and 30 percent of the fatal crashes
involving large trucks that should have been reported to the Office of Motor
Carrier and Highway Safety in 1997. The Office has developed a draft safety
action plan that describes 67 activities that it believes have the greatest
potential to reduce crashes and save lives. However, the results of these
activities will not be evident for several years. In addition, the draft plan
does not address whether the Department of Transportation has the
resources needed to complete all of the activities, nor does it prioritize the
67 activities according to their potential to improve truck safety.GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety
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United States. General Accounting Office. Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information on Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems, report, June 29, 1999; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc293160/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.