The National Trucking Safety Board is responsible for several things regarding transportation including the promotion of transportation safety. Its work is not limited to motor vehicles. It encompasses all types of transportation including airplanes and trains. Recently the agency released the transportation improvements it is most interested in seeing in 2015, called the “Most Wanted List.” There are more than 100 recommendations alone that pertain to trucking safety.
At a news conference recently held regarding the matter, the NTSB indicated that regulators should take steps now to improve safety. There is a good reason for this. In 2013 the number of deaths attributed to large-truck crashes rose to 3,964. It is the fourth straight year in which that number has risen. Among other things the agency believes that action should be taken in the areas of:
- Fatigue management.
- Anti-collision technology.
- Tighter regulation of trucking companies that have experienced a high number of accidents.
The issue of driver fatigue has been in the news recently with the truck accident involving Tracy Morgan. He was one of several individuals who was seriously injured when a truck driven by a man who at the time of the crash allegedly had not slept in over 24 hours. Another man died in the crash. The issue is compounded by the fact that congress weakened the regulations that were in place that addressed trucker fatigue.
According to the NTSB’s director of highway safety investigations, there are many safety technologies that are ready to go. One of those is sensors that could provide warnings to truck drivers if they are in a position where they could rear-end another vehicle.
Issues with truck company regulations are illustrated by the safety violations found during inspections. According to the NTSB, an average of 20 percent of the inspections result in safety violations.
If someone survives a collision with a truck they could be seriously injured. Those injuries could take a long time to recover from and in some cases that person might not make a full recovery. In either of those situations a personal injury lawsuit could be filed. If successful the money recovered would likely be of great assistance.