Trucking safety is a major public concern for people in Oklahoma and across the country. It’s important to note that tractor-trailer accidents are far more likely to injure or even kill the occupants of passenger cars than truckers. Therefore, it’s vital that the government maintains clear and accurate information about trucking safety records in order to reduce the likelihood of these types of crashes.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released a report indicating how it plans to retool its trucking company safety assessments after it was mandated to do so by Congress in 2015. Despite the importance of trucking safety data in preventing and reducing dangerous trucking accidents, the industry has complained for many years about the agency’s safety ratings, claiming that they are unfair and inaccurate. In response to this industry pressure, Congress passed a highway bill that required the FMCSA to remove its current ratings from public view and mandated the agency to create a new system to track carrier safety.
The new mechanism focuses more heavily on specific incidents like violations. In addition, it will involve integrating more closely with state information and with the carriers themselves to garner additional information about the number of miles driven and collision statistics. The agency said it was pursuing a system that rates trucking companies on an objective scale instead of in comparison to one another.
The accuracy of this data and the related investigations are important as truck crashes can be deadly. When people are injured due to a truck driver’s negligence, they can experience permanent disabilities and lifelong pain. A personal injury lawyer can help victims of truck collisions seek compensation for the harms they have suffered.