Mark Schremmer
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving forward on changes to its Crash Preventability Determination Program.
The agency proposed changes to the program in April 2023. A notice that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, Dec. 4 finalizes the proposed changes, responds to comments and outlines steps for implementation.
FMCSA’s crash preventability program currently reviews 16 specific collision types and modifies information in the agency’s Safety Measurement System to distinguish not-preventable collisions from preventable ones. From May 1, 2020, to Dec. 30, 2022, more than 39,000 requests for data review were submitted to FMCSA. About 72.5% of the submitted requests were eligible, meaning they were one of the 16 crash types. About 96% of the eligible collisions were found to have been not preventable.
The agency plans to add four crash types to the program “to expand the (program) to review even more crashes each year for preventability.” The additional crash types are expected to double the size of the program.
The four new crash types in the proposal:
- A commercial motor vehicle was struck on the side by a motorist operating in the same direction.
- A commercial motor vehicle was struck because another motorist was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot.
- A commercial motor vehicle was struck because another motorist lost vehicle control. FMCSA reviewed many police accident reports that included this information, but these accidents were ineligible for the program under the current crash types.
- Any other type of crash involving a commercial motor vehicle, where a video demonstrates the sequence of events of the crash.
The Crash Preventability Determination Program process will remain initiated by a request from the motor carrier, driver or authorized representatives. The burden is on the submitter “to provide compelling evidence” that the crash is eligible and not preventable. Drivers or carriers are encouraged to submit videos, photos or court documents to support the request.
A full list of proposed crash types can be found here.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the expansion of the crash preventability program.
In comments filed in June 2023, OOIDA said the changes would help carriers by adding crash types that can be deemed not preventable.
“For far too long, these nonpreventable crashes have unnecessarily discredited safety ratings for drivers and motor carriers,” the Association wrote in comments signed by President Todd Spencer. “We concur with FMCSA’s decision to further expand the Crash Preventability Determination Program by modifying currently eligible types of crashes.”
Although OOIDA supports the additional crash types, it also said that the “burden should now fall on the agency, rather than the submitter, to overturn qualifying crashes.” OOIDA added that transferring the burden would help keep safe, experienced motor carriers in business and that the stats prove motor carriers shouldn’t have to wait months for nonpreventable crashes to be removed from their record.
In the latest notice, FMCSA said that the burden will remain on the motor carrier or driver.
“The crash data fields that are submitted to FMCSA in the Motor Carrier Management Information System are a subset of the information that is available on the police accident report,” the agency wrote in the notice. “FMCSA does not have direct access to police accident reports or other supporting documentation about a crash.”
FMCSA did not announce when it will begin accepting submissions under the new crash types. The agency plans to publish that information on its website.
