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Tips on Staying Safe While Truck Crashes are at a 10-Year High

January 29, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Fatal truck crashes throughout the United States are currently at a 10-year high, with the midwest seeing its fair share of large truck-related accidents.

For instance, Central Indiana alone has recently had numerous fatal truck crashes of its own. Earlier this month, three people died–including a one-year-old girl–when a commercial truck was not paying attention to the road and slammed into slowing traffic on I-65, killing everyone in the car in front of him.

The collision set of a chain of crashes involving eight passenger vehicles and one tractor-trailer, and marks Indiana’s third deadly accident since July of 2019 involving a distracted or impaired truck driver.

Just over two years ago, the industry reported that over 12 million trucks weighing at least 10,000 pounds hit public roads. Experts say a large increase in e-commerce sales, as well as a booming economy, are the reason.

“At the end of the day, it’s all of our responsibility to make sure we have safe highways,” said American Trucking Associations spokesman Sean McNally.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Board, nearly 5,000 people died in incidents involving large trucks in 2017, and 72% of those who were killed were the drivers and passengers of other vehicles. 82% were multi-vehicle crashes.

“We are seeing more of these accidents as distracted driving becomes more of an issue,” said Stephen Wagner, an Indianapolis attorney who represents semi crash victims. “Fortunately, we’re seeing prosecutors taking these cases seriously and charging people when their inattention takes people’s lives.”

Because of this, experts are offering safety advice for drivers who may be sharing the road with truckers:

Drive defensively

Being a defensive driver and anticipating unexpected actions of others can help you make much safer decisions.

“Most people tell me that they feel like they’re good drivers; it’s other drivers they’re worried about,” said Sgt. John Perrine of the Indiana State Police.

2. Pay extra attention when approaching a work zone

When traffic slows ahead of a construction or work zone, conditions can become especially dangerous.

According to Perrine, you should always leave yourself an exit (such as staying close to a shoulder), and keep an eye on your mirrors to avoid any potential mistakes by other drivers or issues caused by changes in road conditions or speed.

3. Avoid a truck’s blind spots

Although all vehicles have blind spots, a truck’s are much bigger and much more dangerous. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind–if you can’t see a truck’s mirrors, the trucker cannot see you.

Chris Turner, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s crash and data programs director, agrees.

“Stay out of the blind spot, pass with plenty of distance, [and] make sure you can see all of the cab in the rearview mirror” before merging, he explained.

4. Give trucks plenty of space

Always make sure to leave a bigger amount of space between your car and a large truck. Trucks need hundreds of feet to stop while driving at highway speeds due to their weight and size.

“Those vehicles just can’t stop. Their mass is so much more intensified,” said Turner. “A passenger car would have to be going roughly 200 miles per hour to do the same damage.

5. Obey all laws and speed limits, and use your turn signal

Speeding, especially on a busy highway, can greatly increase your chances of a crash. When failing to use your turn signal, those changes grow even more.

Sticking to traffic laws, no matter how simple, will always make it safer for you, other drivers, and trucks.

6. Put your phone away

When it comes to road safety, all driving and trucking experts have one key point they always want to drive home: cellphones are one of the biggest culprits in distracting drivers and wreaking havoc on the road.

“Please,” said Peter Kurdock of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, “put the phone down.”

All of these tips include one major aspect: paying close attention to the road while driving. Although commercial vehicles are the biggest danger to drivers and passengers alike, Boone County Sheriff Michael T. Nielsen asserts that any kind of distracted driving is an enormous problem and huge safety risk.

“The Boone County Sheriff’s Office feels strongly that those [who] cause death on our public roadways, because of driver inattention, should be held accountable,” he said. “Please pay attention to your driving when operating a motor vehicle. Give yourself plenty of room to have a way out [and] put down your phone or other objects.”

Number of Traffic Fatalities Down in 2019

January 28, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

With 2019 now in the rearview mirror, new data suggest the last year of the decade proved to be a positive one for drivers across the United States, as traffic fatalities saw a year-over-year decrease of 2.2% throughout the first 9 months of the year. According to Transport Topics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated there were 26,730 fatalities that occurred in 2019. While the statistics alone appear to be alarming, many should see this as a positive sign as it makes “the third quarter of 2019 the eighth consecutive quarter for year-over-year declines in traffic deaths since Q4 of 2017.”

Not only does this data establish that the United States has consistently been decreasing the number of traffic fatalities each year, but it proves that more drivers on the road and more miles being driven on average across the entire United States does not necessarily mean more fatalities will occur.

For instance, the Federal Highway Administration has also released data showing there has been a 1% increase in overall miles travelled by Americans in the first nine months of 2019, with an increase of 24 billion miles.

While this news is certainly positive and provides the nation with an idea of the direction in which certain initiatives are going, it’s important that we do not view such statistics in a vacuum.

To be sure, there has been a 2.2% decrease in traffic fatalities, but as is often the case, there is no silver bullet approach when it comes to trying to curb what can often feel like inevitable results.

According to the National Safety Council, a non-profit organization specializing in decreasing preventable deaths, the Road to Zero Coalition has been actively promoted. The Safety Council’s plan to eliminate all road deaths entirely serves as a guide for both state federal governments to adopt specific strategies to ultimately put an end to all traffic fatalities by 2050.

As highlighted in the report generated by the council, the strategies proposed are based on three “approaches” the coalition has found to be integral to succeeding in their initiative:

1. Doubling Down on What Works

Supporting policies that are based on research in roadway design and construction, vehicle engineering, law enforcement, consumer education, and trauma care.

2. Accelerating Advanced Technology

Establish new partnerships with manufacturers, technology companies, and EMS and trauma systems, as well as with public safety and health groups.

3. Prioritizing Safety

Adopting a “Safe System Approach” that prioritizes using proven safety methods which allow for individuals to make mistakes, yet such mistakes will not result in actual death.

In addition to establishing an overall guide for states to adopt, the council also holds “Road to Zero” webinars which serve as an introduction for new members joining the coalition to learn what other cities and states have already encountered in attempting to implement such strategies.

Although the task that the National Safety Council is trying to accomplish appears to be far larger in scope than what is realistically possible, such ambition has not gone unnoticed. Since its inception, the Road to Zero initiative has garnered roughly 900 members of the coalition. Among those members include the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This is precisely what needs to occur across the United States for such lofty goals to be achieved.

It may seem unrealistic for us to be able to completely curb traffic fatalities when a 1% increase in the miles travelled across the country resulted in 24-billion-mile increase; however, when such a large number of companies and organizations are united behind these goals, there will be results.

Some may view the 2019 traffic fatality statistics as nothing more than a necessary update to the public to establish that the funding and donations being received are actually paying dividends. While that may be true to some extent, it is absolutely essential to remember that a silver bullet does not exist, and the efforts being put forth by such organizations as the National Safety Council are truly worth monitoring.

It could very well be the case that over the first few months of 2020 a spike in traffic fatalities occurs, but that should not mean we stop implementing these strategies in the future. Even without a silver bullet approach to decreasing traffic fatalities, our states, cities, and communities owe it to citizens to provide smart and convenient traffic routes and policies. Without implementing such policies, their failure to do so could render them accountable for future fatalities that were otherwise preventable.

Industry Drug Test Rates to Rise by 50 Percent in 2020

January 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The day after Christmas, federal regulators made a huge announcement for the trucking industry: they plan to increase the minimum yearly random drug testing rate to 50% of a carrier’s drivers–up from the previous rate of 25%.

The short-notice mandated increase was made public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on December 26th, and was implemented only a few days later on January 1st, 2020.

The FMCSA currently estimates around 3.2 million commercial license holders are working in interstate commerce and another 1 million in intrastate commerce. With a new rate of random drug testing, about 2.1 million random tests will take place throughout 2020.

The FMCSA estimates the additional tests will cost the industry an additional $50 million to $70 million per year.

There is already a fair amount of pushback regarding the data which led to the increase.

“This data was collected in early 2019, and to my knowledge there has been no indication from FMCSA about the increase in positive tests that led to the minimum random testing rate change,” said president of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, Dave Osiecki. “Not only is it a financial hit that no one was expecting, it’s disappointing to know that more drivers are testing positive for using drugs.”

The agency’s 2001 rule, “Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing,” determined the process used by the FMCSA to decide whether or not the minimum annual percentage rate for any random testing could be increased or decreased. In the final rule, the decision to change the percentage rate was to be mandated by the trucking industry’s overall positive random controlled substance test rate, the data of which is presented to the agency by motor carrier employers themselves.

According to Osiecki, there will be a decrease in industry productivity due to the higher number of drivers being summoned to testing sites when they could be on the road.

J.J. Keller’s Tom Bray said all carriers, large and small, will feel the effects of an increase in testing costs.

“It’s the same thing you’re doing, you just have to do more of it,” he said. “The key thing there is that it went back up to 50%, which is where it was for many, many, many years previous to the calendar year 2016 change.”

Bray believes meeting the 50% rate will bring major difficulties for many carriers, as many fleets experience high turnover rates and random testing can bring even more issues in those cases.

A 2018 survey of nearly 5,000 randomly selected motor carriers estimated that the test rate of random controlled substances was around 1%, making it slightly higher than that of years past.

“When the minimum annual percentage rate for random controlled substances is 25%, and the data received under the reporting requirements for any calendar year indicate that the reported positive rate is equal to or greater than 1%, the FMCSA administrator will increase the minimum annual percentage rate for random controlled substances to 50% for all driver positions,” said the agency.

The reason Bray believes test rates are increasing is that the Department of Transportation has added four synthetic opioids to drug screening–including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone.

“This is a major issue in the country in general,” Bray said. “Our group of drivers represents the country. If the country’s having trouble with opioids, so are drivers.”

Manager of safety and occupational health policy for American Trucking Associations, Abigail Potter, said although the increase is expected, most companies have already completed their annual budget planning for 2020, and the short notice by the FMCSA will cost the industry millions of dollars.

Additionally, Potter believes federal acceptance of a different method of drug screening would have been a solution.

“We need hair testing,” she said. “One of the disappointments here is that we could’ve prevented this situation.”

The proposed guidelines given by the Department of Health and Human Services, which would allow carriers to utilize hair testing for drug screening, have had little attention by the Office of Management and Budget since summer of 2019.

In regards to random alcohol testing, as of now, the FMCSA has confirmed the minimum annual rate will stay at 10% in 2020.

Lithium Battery Led to Fiery Death in Tesla Crash, NTSB Says

January 26, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A May 2018 Florida crash involving a speeding teen driver and passenger became deadly after a subsequent fire was caused in part by the Tesla Inc. vehicle’s lithium battery, according to a recent federal investigation.

The 18-year-old driver had been previously cited for speeding, and was traveling at speeds up to 116 mph in a Model S when he lost control on a Fort Lauderdale curve with a speed limit of 25 mph, the National Transportation Safety Board explained in its December 19th report.

The report determined that the fire contributed greatly to both deaths, even though the passenger had already sustained head and torso injuries during the crash.

A passenger in the backseat was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the car upon impact, but survived with various fractures.

This is one of several crashes currently under review by the NTSB involving lithium-based battery-involved fires in vehicles such as Teslas. These highly flammable batteries cause fires that are difficult to extinguish, and can even reignite hours or days after a crash has taken place.

During this accident, firefighters arrived on scene four minutes after the first emergency call, and reported the fire’s heat was incredibly strong and that they could see electrical arcing, according to NTSB’s report.

Responders used between 200 and 300 gallons of water and foam to combat the flames, but the battery still reignited two more times. Additionally, a piece of the main battery came into contact with a metal chain and briefly ignited on its own. Firefighters continued to spray the battery once more after it caught fire while being loaded onto a tow truck.

In another case which occurred in 2019, a Model S Tesla driver lost control on a South Florida road and collided with a palm tree; however, his family’s lawyers said the car’s battery and designs were the cause of his death–not the crash itself.

According to the wrongful death lawsuit, the Tesla’s lithium battery immediately caught fire after the crash, causing smoke and flames to fill the car and suffocate the driver. A crowd had gathered at the scene, but was unable to help.

Why? Allegedly, Tesla’s retractable door handles failed to “auto-present” and disallowed first responders to open the doors and save the driver.

“The fire engulfed the car and burned Dr. Awan beyond recognition–all because the Model S has inaccessible door handles, no other way to open the doors, and an unreasonable dangerous fire risk,” said the complaint. “These Model S defects, and others, rendered it a death trap.”

Tesla has claimed that its Model S vehicle once achieved “the best safety rating of any car test,” which is the reason his family’s attorney, Stuart Grossman, cited for Aman’s decision to purchase the luxury vehicle in the first place.

“These things, they just love to burn,” Grossman said. “The car is so over-engineered. It’s so techy, it makes you want to buy a Chevy pickup truck.”

These are only two Tesla-related deaths in a string of incidents that blame the carmaker’s technology.

In April, parking garage surveillance footage from Shanghai depicted a smoking Model S finally bursting into flames–a video which pressured Tesla to begin an internal investigation.

We’ve reported on other accidents–even deadly ones–related to Tesla’s “Autopilot” automated driver-assistance feature.

“There are a number of these cases,” said Grossman. “What the hell is going on?”

Regarding Awan’s case, as well as others, Tesla has maintained that any high-speed crash may end up in flames regardless of how the vehicle is powered. However, Awan had survived his crash–but would have been able to escape the fire had the doors been operating properly and allowed responders to pull him out.

The lawsuit says the innovative features made the car “defective” and dangerous,” and that the door handles added to the major issue of an “inherently unstable” lithium ion battery.

“Tesla failed to warn users about the scope and extent of the defective and unreasonably dangerous conditions of the Model S,” said the complaint.

After firefighters extinguished the flames in Awan’s incident, the Tesla was taken to a tow yard, where it reignited and burned once again.

Major Car Models Recalled as Takata Discovers Deadly Malfunction in Air Bags

January 26, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Now-bankrupt air bag manufacturing company Takata has recently discovered a deadly defect in its product.

The newly-found malfunction had led to air bags exploding and hurling shrapnel, or not inflating properly in a crash at all.

This issue comes in addition to an earlier defect that killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds of others worldwide–which also had air bags unexpectedly releasing shrapnel.

On December 19th, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released documents detailing its investigation into Audi, Honda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi regarding their connections to Takata’s recall of 1.4 million inflators.

The current problem has already killed a driver in Australia in an older 3-series BMW. BMW has recalled at least 116,000 vehicles already, and believes the issue is so serious that it has told drivers of affected models to keep their cars parked until repairs can be made. These models include certain 1999 323i and 328i sedans–these vehicles may have Takata inflators that were manufactured before production improvements.

BMW is also recalling 34,000 of its 323i and 328 sedans from 1999 and 2000, as well a 323Ci and 328Ci coupes from 2000, which were all made between March 1998 and March of 2000. It will also recall over 74,000 of its 323i, 325i, 328i, and 330i sedans from 1999 to 2001, which were produced between May 1999 and July 2000. These vehicles may have inflators that were replaced by defective ones.

As of now, the NHTSA is saying Takata has yet to give details on specific affected makes, models, or even model years of the vehicles that may have the defective inflators, so it has told companies to recall them properly as soon as possible. The agency also says that the vehicles that will likely be recalled were made between 1995 and 2000, which is when these particular inflators were produced.

As opposed to recalls in the past, Takata’s non-azide inflators don’t use ammonium nitrate to fill air bags when deployed–but the propellant still has a tendency to deteriorate over time when exposed to humidity or high temperatures. In this case, it can deploy too quickly, causing it to explode the inflator itself. The faulty inflators also have weak seals.

Recent government documents show that Takata made around 4.5 million of these inflators around the globe, but because the vehicles have grown so old, only a portion are still in use.

Currently, Mitsubishi has told national safety regulators that its only vehicle affected is the Montero model from 1998 to 2000, but is still working to finalize its recall.

Toyota and Honda are both still working to determine which of their models will need to be recalled. Audi also said it is investigating its 1997 to 1999 A4, SA6, A8, and TT models to determine whether they are affected.

The Center for Auto Safety’s executive director, Jason Levin, says the investigation currently “highlights the need for aggressive oversight both by NHTSA and by the companies themselves in terms of when they get these reports to take them seriously and move more quickly.”

Although he believes we can’t yet tell if automakers are procrastinating on these recalls, he knows it is vitally important to get the recalls out immediately, as many drivers use their cars for long periods of time. “We need to recognize that just waiting these problems out is not going to solve the dangerous situations that defective parts can create,” he explained.

This recall comes in addition to a large series of problems regarding Takata and its inflators, which eventually sent the company into bankruptcy.

In the largest string of automative recalls in American history, 19 automakers are recalling around 70 million inflators. Takata is also recalling about 100 million of its inflators across the country.

What is left of Takata has been purchased by Key Safety Systems of China for 175 billion yen ($1.6 billion).

BMW has been working quickly to remedy the issues with its models, and intends to replace all faulty inflators with new ones shortly. The company says it will notify owners when these new parts become available.

Decisions for all affected vehicles are expected to be made soon–NHTSA has told all companies to respond with final recall decisions by January 17th.

Trucking Employees Weigh in on CARB’s Plan for Electric Trucks

January 23, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Right now, truck manufacturers are looking closely into California’s proposed rule regarding the sale of electric trucks.

California environmental regulators are working to determine the best way to move forward with a plan requiring truck manufacturers to start selling zero-emission vehicles within the next four years.

The California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Truck Regulation, the first proposal of its kind in the nation, would bring about these sales by 2024, but would not force fleets to purchase vehicles of this kind or require a particular zero-emissions technology to be put in place.

“Zero-emission technology continues to improve rapidly, and costs continue to come down,” said CARB in a proposal summary.

The regulation, which was presented by staff to CARB earlier this month, would require 3% of Classes 7-8 trucks sold by large truck manufacturers to be zero-emission vehicles by their 2024 models, and 15% to be zero-emission by 2030. Other manufacturing companies producing models such as refuse trucks and step vans would need to have a certain percentage of zero-emission trucks by 2024 as well.

For straight trucks, the number jumps from 7% in 2024 to a whopping 50% by 2030.

The proposal would also mean California carriers with gross revenues of over $50 million, or that own more than 100 8,500-pound trucks, must report their vehicle activity by April 1st, 2021, with a detailed description of the vehicles assigned to their facilities.

CARB accepted public comments on the proposal until December 9th, and had a public hearing on the regulation December 12th. The final vote is anticipated for next year.

However, as of now, the industry is divided regarding the proposal. The hearing’s commentators included believers that this plan would try to implement the new technology far too quickly, as well as those saying it hasn’t been put into place fast enough.

“Our goal here is to transform the transportation system,” said Mary Nichols, CARB’s board chairman. “It’s not just to meet a target. We need to move as fast as we can without screwing things up. This is tough stuff. If it were easy, it would have been done by now.”

California has offered rebates in an attempt to offset higher sticker prices for hybrid and zero-emission trucks. CARB, though, recently announced that the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project has a wait list that currently exceeds the fiscal 2019-20 budget’s funding.

In late October, CARB announced its program’s new attempts to better “align eligible technologies with HVIP goals.”

CARB also released a fact sheet regarding the proposal, which detailed more than 70 models of zero-emissions trucks, vans, and buses that are currently commercially available. California also has funding assistance available for technologies such as these through multiple programs.

“As technology advances, zero-emission trucks will become suitable for more applications.” said CARB. “Most major truck manufacturers have announced plans to introduce market ready zero-emission trucks in the near future.

Regardless, the ability to convert the entire industry from diesel to electric–which is the goal in California by 2045–seems extraordinarily difficult.

“We support zero-emissions vehicles,” said Jed Mandel, president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, at the hearing. “But designing a program based on a naked sales mandate is fundamentally flawed. Trucks are not cars.”

His suggestion was that CARB starts with the segments of the trucking industry that have the ability to implement the technology now, such as step vans and buses, rather than heavy longhaul trucks.

“There’s a great deal of intrigue when it comes to electric trucks, but not a lot of experience,” said American Trucking Associations’ California-based director of environmental research, Mike Tunnell. “There’s hope and anticipation that these vehicles will be able to stand up to the daily demands of the industry in terms of range, durability, and reliability.”

He also said that trucking companies are only evaluating prototypes right now.

“We are just beginning the stages of understanding the challenges and opportunities that this technology presents,” Tunnell explained.

CARB board member Hector De La Torre agreed.

“I think the key is availability,” he said. “From what I’m hearing, it won’t be until the mid-2020s that commercial trucks will be available. I’m talking longhaul [Class] 7s and 8s. So, we’re not there yet with those, clearly.”