Interviews With Carriers, Drivers, Witnesses Included in Four-Year Plan in Advancement of Crash Causation Program
Noel Fletcher
Advancing a program that stretches back more than 20 years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced plans for a sweeping study of fatal heavy truck crashes with the goal of developing strategies to improve highway safety.
The Crash Causal Factors Program, authorized by Congress under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will collect data from 2,000 fatal heavy truck crashes across 30 states identified as representative of a national sampling of locations. Data will be collected over the course of two years, with a target start date of early 2026. FMCSA is partnering with state and local agencies as well as the Bureau of Transportation Statistics — which, like FMCSA, is part of the Department of Transportation — to collect the data. The Office of Safety Data and Analysis within BTS will lead the research.
The initial phase is called the Heavy-Duty Truck Study and will center on data collection for crashes involving Classes 7 and 8 trucks. Key data will include crash metrics that adhere to FMCSA state-specific agreements. BTS will supplement this data with anecdotal information gathered in voluntary interviews with carriers, drivers and witnesses following a crash.
“Information gathered during the interviews will provide additional information and context for a more comprehensive understanding of crashes and their causal factors,” according to a Federal Register notice on the CCFP program. BTS aims to conduct five hourlong interviews per crash.
“For each fatal crash, BTS will attempt to interview the heavy-duty truck driver, a representative from the involved motor carrier, the driver of any other involved vehicle, all vehicle occupants and any other persons involved in the crash,” the notice stated. This information will be analyzed to identify whether drivers, vehicles, motor carriers or environmental factors played a role in the crashes.
“Analysis results and findings may be used to inform preventive measures, reduce identified risks and address causal factors of heavy-duty truck crashes,” according to FMCSA.
Public comment on the proposed data collection strategy and alternative methods to gather information are being collected by BTS through Nov. 3.
By the end of 2026, FMCSA plans to complete a design for the study, identify participant states and set final plans for data collection and analysis, plus implementation of confidentiality measures for personal interviews. It also aims to create a database of information.
Data collection is slated to take two years. From there, an analysis phase will be followed by preparation of a report and creation of a public database of anonymized crash data. FMCSA plans to release the report and launch the database by 2029. Partial findings may be released before that.
From 2016 to 2022, fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses in the United States increased 26.4%, according to FMCSA.
The CCFP aims to add to and expand on the earlier Large Truck Crash Causation Study, which was launched in 2001. That earlier study examined 967 crashes involving 1,127 large trucks and 959 non-truck motor vehicles. A total of 251 fatalities and 1,408 injuries were reported. Those crashes occurred from 2001 to 2003 at 24 sites in 17 states.
The goal was to report to Congress a review of causes of commercial vehicle crashes and devise preventive safety measures. The most recent LTCCS report to Congress, available on the program’s website, is dated March 2006. That report noted that while a large amount of descriptive data — including a 28-page driver interview form — was compiled, additional analysis was needed to identify specific crash risk factors. This CCFP aims to update that effort with a broader scope that includes more states, building-block phases of work and creation of the public database.
