public safety

With Autopilot Capabilities Ramping Up, Public Trust is Imperative

August 27, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Experts are claiming that the progress of safety innovations that come with new vehicle technology may be hindered by the public’s lack of trust or understanding regarding automated driving systems.

“Whether it’s Tesla or anyone else, it is incumbent on these manufacturers to be honest in what their technology does and does not do,” said chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy.

Homendy took over as chairwoman of the agency as Tesla Inc. faced backlash regarding its Autopilot capabilities following the opening of an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on car crashes involving Autopilot-equipped vehicles.

Although Homendy noted that Tesla has been easy to work with during NTSB investigations, she did note that various TV advertisements for Autopilot-equipped Teslas do allude to the idea that these vehicles can brake and steer on their own, although drivers must still be alert and monitoring these systems at any given time while a vehicle is being operated.

Homendy added that some officials even said they themselves believed some of these Tesla models were self-operating during a recent state highway safety conference.

“I was stunned,” Homendy said of those comments. “No, we do not [have self-operating models].”

She also explained in her first address to NTSB staff as chairwoman that she would make it a priority to–within the next 100 days–rename NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety for it to better reflect its role in analyzing incidents occurring within commercial space travel.

“We are doing a lot, but nobody knows it,” she explained of the Office’s responsibility in these investigations. “We need to demonstrate it to our partners–to our stakeholders–that we’re ready, because we are.”

Additionally, Homendy requested that agency staff complete a regulation draft regarding updated commercial space industry-governing requirements within 60 days. The NTSB has been analyzing and investigating commercial rocket- and space vehicle-related incidents for many years, although the need for these kinds of investigations isn’t especially common. One such analysis included that of the Virgin Galactic space plane’s destruction in 2014.

“I don’t want to be in a situation–God forbid–that something does happen and we don’t have adequate resources,” Homendy explained. “So, I do believe this is an area we do need to expand and include additional expertise.”

Investigation preparation has become vital across many sectors of air transportation, she added, as robotic flying devices and un-piloted drones are currently undergoing design efforts to become future air taxis, and other innovative new methods of aircraft transportation and recreation are also in the works–such as Jeff Bezos’ recent Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. and Blue Origin LLC ride into space, which Virgin has announced would be a joyride available to others for $450,000 per ticket.

Because of the future of this kind of travel, Homendy is aiming to boost NTSB staff and its capacity budget, as the funding-setting safety board authorization is due for renewal in 2021. The exact number of budget increase that will be requested isn’t yet known, though, she explained.

“The things that the public relies on–timely reports, great recommendations, what’s happened on an investigation [being released] as early as possible–that requires resources,” she added.

A much larger NTSB staff will be necessary for the fast-paced innovations of transportation technology and all that these changes will entail.

“We are in a time of transformational change,” said Homendy. “But, you know, I hear a lot about innovation and a lot about investment. I’m not learning a lot about safety–that’s where we come in. Safety has to be the driver. That’s our role.”

For this purpose, Homendy has requested that NTSB fill the current 50 open jobs within the agency, which makes up more than 12% of all current staff. Still, though, Homendy’s overarching goal is to bring important changes to overall safety within transportation, as she says there is a “very long list” of actions she plans to take in order to do so–including the vast improvement of driver assist system safety. She has made clear her intent to urge Congress to increase agency funding and to help the agency focus on incoming tech capabilities regarding everything from space flight to automated passenger vehicles.

“I think we have a great past,” she said of NTSB, “but I think we have to be future-looking.”

Nitrogen Oxide Regulations Getting Major Upgrade from EPA

August 20, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

By the end of next year, new national emission standards will be finalized in an effort to reduce the amount of harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty trucks.

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that starting in model year 2027, commercial motor vehicles will be subject to a series of significant rule-makings over the course of the next few years aiming to implement standards bringing a major reduction to the amount of nitrogen oxide pollution emitted from these trucks.

“This action will include an update of current greenhouse gas standards to capture market shifts to zero-emission technologies in certain segments of the heavy-duty vehicle sector,” said the EPA in a recent statement.

The current standard for nitrogen oxide pollution for on-highway, heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles is 0.20 grams per brake-horsepower-hour, and this particular standard for trucks and engines has not seen any changes for the last 20 years. In terms of its next standard, the specific target reduction in nitrogen oxide has not been made clear by EPA.

The agency’s new “Clean Trucks Plan” will aim to lower overall new heavy-duty vehicle emissions, including those emitted from commercial delivery trucks, buses, and long-haul tractors. This new rule will implement “more robust greenhouse gas emission standards” for all newly-manufactured heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles at least by the model year 2030, EPA has claimed.

“These new rules will be major steps toward improving air quality and addressing the climate crisis,” said the agency. Additionally, these regulations will help areas most in need of improved wellbeing, including many “overburdened and underserved communities,” as heavy-duty truck emission pollution is a major factor in poor health and air quality across the United States, EPA noted.

“Heavy-duty vehicles are the largest contributor–about 32%–to mobile source emissions of nitrogen oxide, which react in the atmosphere to form ozone and particulate matter,” explained the agency in its statement. “These pollutants are linked to respiratory and/or cardiovascular problems and other adverse health impacts that lead to increased medication use, hospital admissions, emergency department visits, and premature deaths.”

EPA has been under pressure by a variety of both local and state agencies throughout the nation urging the agency to find ways to largely reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from big-rigs, as many officials from these agencies are seeing poor health in their own areas due to low air quality and pollution.

“Such reductions are a critical part of many areas’ strategies to attain and maintain the health-based air quality standards, and to ensure that all communities benefit from improvements in air quality,” said EPA.

This month, President Joe Biden also signed an executive order mandating that at least half of all light-duty commercial motor vehicles be electric by 2030 in an effort to further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

“We’re looking forward to continuing our discussions to educate and help form the next round of low nitrogen oxide standards,” said American Trucking Associations’ energy and environmental counsel, Glen Kedzie. “Likewise, ATA stands ready to be engaged with both EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the establishment of the next round of truck greenhouse gas and fuel-efficiency standards.”

Organizations across the country will need to work together to find the best methods of implementing these climate crisis-tackling standards and regulations, explained Kedzie.

“With clean technologies advancing at such a rapid pace, it’s inherent for federal agencies to understand how these technologies will be deployed and utilized within individual trucking operations,” he said.

In fact, some groups have found one aspect of trucking in which lowering greenhouse gas emissions should be one of the first areas of focus in regards to these new regulations.

“One area [in which] technologies can improve emission outcomes relates to trucks operating at what are known as ‘low loads,’” said EPA. “EPA’s analysis of trucking emissions has shown that current nitrogen oxide controls are not effective under certain low-load operating conditions, such as when trucks idle, move slowly, or operate in stop-and go traffic. Emission-control technologies that can help reduce nitrogen oxide emissions under low-load conditions now exist, and they represent one area [in which] EPA intends to focus as it develops a new nitrogen oxide regulation.”

Annual Roadcheck Event Takes 6,710 CMVs off North American Roadways

August 19, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Hours of service was the most cited driver out-of-service violation during this year’s International Roadcheck, accounting for 41.5% of all driver out-of-service violations,” said CVSA in a recent tweet, following the release of their latest annual Roadcheck numbers. “That’s 1,203 violations.”

During the annual International Roadcheck which took place between May 4th and May 6th, CVSA inspectors took 6,710 commercial motor vehicles off of North American roadways and 2,080 total drivers off of roadways, which came out to a 16.5% commercial vehicle out-of-service rate and a 5.3% driver out-of-service rate for the continent.

The annual International Roadcheck takes place across Mexico, Canada, and the United States through a CVSA program initiative, with collaboration from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Guard, Transport Canada, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, and Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transportation.

The three-day event was an inspection and enforcement effort of high-visibility and high-volume; this year’s event saw more than 40,000 commercial motor vehicle inspections be conducted. Of those, around 83.5% of all commercial vehicles did not have any out-of-service violations.

Still, the most highly-cited out-of-service violation for drivers was hours of service violations, making up 41.5% of all violations and totaling 1,203 citations. Along with hours of service, lighting was another major category in which inspectors accounted for violations. 14.1% of all violations were in this category, making it the third-most-cited violation for out-of-service vehicles and coming out to 1,367 of these particular violations.

Commercial motor vehicles and combination trucks, non-cargo tank HM/DG trucks and combinations, motor coaches and buses, and cargo tank hazardous materials and dangerous goods trucks and combinations were all inspected during the annual Roadcheck initiative by CVSA-certified inspectors. These professionals conducted these inspections throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico at designated inspection stations, weigh stations, and other designated roadside locations.

“Inspectors performed 23,135 Level I Inspections and removed 5,048 vehicles (21.8%) and 1,200 (5.2%) drivers from roadways due to the discovery of critical vehicle or driver inspection item violations as identified in the CVSA North American Standard Out-of-service Criteria,” explained CVSA.

This kind of inspection–the North American Standard Level I Inspection–is a 37-step process and was the primary method of inspections conducted during the event. 2020’s Roadcheck event was delayed due to the pandemic and finally took place between September 9th and September 11th, finding an out-of-service rate for commercial vehicles of 20.9% throughout the continent. This was a considerable increase from 2019’s out-of-service rate, which came out to be 17.9%–a surprising boost in regards to to the lessened roadway traffic that came from the pandemic era.

Additionally, although overall miles driven dropped by 13% in 2020 with shelter-in-place orders active throughout North America, roadway fatalities rose by 24% in 2020 as compared to 2019, according to the National Safety Council’s figures in CVSA’s recent news release.

During 2020, the fourth-most-cited driver violation was the “failure to use a seat belt while operating a commercial motor vehicle,” which totaled more than 32,000 violations of this kind just in the United States, according to the Management Information System data released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. During 2021’s Roadcheck event, only 773 seat belt usage violations were found throughout the entire continent, with 464 cited in the United States, 305 in Canada, and just four in Mexico.

In regards to the most commonly-cited violations found during the 2021 International Roadcheck event, the top five for commercial motor vehicle drivers were having the wrong class license (565 citations making up 19.5%), having false or inadequate logs (427 citations making up 14.7%), having a suspended license (132 citations making up 4.6%), hours-of-service violations (1,203 citations making up 41.5%), or other various violations (482 citations making up 16.6%).

For commercial motor vehicles themselves, the top five violations this year were issues with tires (1,804 citations making up 18.6%), lights (1,367 citations making up 14.1%), brake systems (2,564 citations making up 26.5% percent), brake adjustment capabilities (1,203 citations making up 12.4%), and cargo securement capabilities (1,192 citations making up 12.3%).

‘Trooper in a Truck’ Event Finds Many Texting Drivers Throughout Indiana

August 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Nearly 300 motorists across the state of Indiana have been the latest recipients of traffic tickets and warnings after unknowingly sharing the road with a group of tractor-trailers driving down the interstate with state troopers onboard.

The ‘trooper in a truck’ initiative was an effort to allow state troopers to more easily and inconspicuously watch out for dangerous driver behaviors on Indiana roadways. When the passenger-seated trooper in one of these big rigs saw any risky roadway actions, he or she was able to radio in to state police who were positioned to patrol further up the interstate and were ready to pull over these drivers and issue the necessary citations or warnings.

“One of the things we hear from truck drivers is, ‘It’s a shame you guys can’t see what’s going on the way we can,” said commander of the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Major Jon Smithers. “‘If only you guys could see what we see in the seat every day being up high.’”

And he’s not wrong–during the one-day ‘trooper in a truck’ event, the majority of the nearly 300 tickets and warnings that were issue were indeed issued to drivers of passenger vehicles, something that does not come as a surprise to many truckers who get a front row seat to the goings on of the nation’s roadways. During the initiative, troopers issued 152 warnings and wrote 132 tickets to passenger vehicle drivers.

Having these officers sit high up in the truck bed gave them a new perspective and allowed them to much more easily see if drivers were violating a particularly important recently-instated state law–that no driver should have a cellphone in his or her hands while operating a vehicle.

Violating this law can issue up to a $500 fine for drivers and also levy four points on his or her driver’s record. During the ‘trooper in a truck’ event, many troopers had to remind motorists of this “hands-free” law that has only been officially in effect in the state of Indiana for a short time.

“We need to let these people know that we’re serious about this [new law], because everybody’s still on their phones–nobody is taking it [seriously],” explained president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, Gary Langston. “We also focused on people driving erratically and unsafely around commercial vehicles, things like tailgating, cutting people off, and all the other things that cars do.”

The Indiana Motor Truck Association was able to help state police with these efforts by recruiting the four big rigs utilized to travel along looping interstates throughout various regions of the state to help troopers with their patrol efforts.

“We think [the initiative] was successful,” explained Langston. “It continues to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the trucking industry. But first and foremost, it raises awareness and the priority level of safe driving. It reminds people that safe driving is a full-time job.”

Additionally, because the “hands-free” law is so new to so many, many drivers of passenger vehicles are not yet aware of the actual life-threatening risks that come with texting or otherwise using a cellphone while operating a car, Smithers noted.

“I don’t think people realize you can travel two or three lengths of a football field in just a few seconds,” he said. “If something is going on in front of you, in just a short matter of time you can be on top of a problem.”

Still, a large chunk of the citations issued by troopers during this event was for speeding, even though the main focus was to take action upon the drivers talking on cellphones or texting while operating vehicles on the interstate.

“I heard one story that a truck with a trooper was moving in the right-hand lane,” Langston recalled. “A car passed them on the right shoulder of the road, and then pulled in front of the truck.”

Langston explained that this driver had been so distracted, he didn’t even realize that he had cut off a commercial motor vehicle at all.

“When [the police officer] pulled the car over and asked the driver why he passed on the shoulder, his response was: ‘What truck?’ That just tells you that people aren’t paying as much attention as we’d like for them to.”

Hazmat Transport Needs Boosts, PHMSA Says

July 21, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

In an effort to improve hazardous material transportation methods, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is looking for insight regarding innovative research and advancement techniques.

Because new standards on transportation for things like aerosols and explosives (in small quantities) as well as for non-bulk and bulk packaging are highly needed, the Administration is specifically requesting new ideas on the research of safer shipment methods. Additionally, the agency is calling for further research into dissolved gases in liquids and their hazards, along with the regulation of particular quantities and types of hazardous materials that comprise these kinds of shipments.

“PHMSA is soliciting research ideas from the public for hazardous materials transportation safety,” announced the agency in a recent tweet. “All submissions should relate to one of the five research topics…the best proposals may be awarded federal funding.”

PHMSA will award this funding through “Broad Agency Announcement,” grants that will range anywhere from $250,000 to $2 million for this research. “White papers” consisting of this new testing and data analysis must be sent to PHMSA by the end of the day on August 24th, according to the agency’s announcement.

PHMSA works to create regulatory standards for the handling, packaging, and even classifying of hazardous material shipments and their transportation throughout the country; these shipments make up more than 1 million of the United States’ daily total shipments. Now, the agency is cracking down on reducing the number of potential risks brought about by this kind of transportation by making a major effort in boosting their research and technical contracts.

PHMSA has been searching for innovative classification and research projects for many years, and has recently been looking into projects regarding bulk hazardous material liquid transportation spill incidents as well as biologically-derived fuel transportation classification and standards.

Now, the agency’s top five research subjects include deregulation, explosives, aerosols, gases, and bulk and non-bulk packaging.

For deregulation, the agency explained that current data depicts some non-bulk quantities of hazardous materials making up most transport-related incidents, although the transportation of these materials doesn’t often account for any transportation interruptions or injuries. Therefore, PHMSA infers that non-bulk hazardous materials in small quantities may be presently over-regulated, and will make an effort to ascertain whether or not there are any ways to relax hazardous material transportation regulations in regards to non-bulk quantities while maintaining overall safety standards.

For explosives, current Class 1 material transportation calls for classification approval by the Department of Transportation, and PHMSA believes there may be ways to test some explosive mixtures that could be classified outside of Class 1. Therefore, the industry could see flexibility in regulation and time constraints regarding these materials.

Because aerosols are comprised of a variety of substances such as foams, powders, liquids, gases, or pastes and are still dispensed as gases or liquids, the agency is calling for research into the potential risks that could come with certain kinds of aerosols and their flammability. Additionally, the agency would find it ideal if someone may be able to properly conduct testing and analysis of aerosol flammability in certain measurements, rather than just testing which aerosols are indeed flammable.

Gases, of course, pose many risks of their own, and there are currently no criteria for determining what amount of dissolved gas in liquid can specify the material as being a distinct gas. Additionally, there are a variety of hazards that come with certain combinations of gases and liquids, like when both substances are flammable, or one is flammable and one is non-flammable. Because of this, PHMSA is looking for someone to research these criteria and find what may need to be regulated in specific manners.

Finally, with bulk and non-bulk packaging, the agency believes there needs to be a highly-researched definition, classification, performance standard, service life standard, and testing criteria in regards to how non-bulk packages are regulated. To research this, PHMSA believes researchers should analyze standards for improving criteria in certain non-bulk packages, such as cylinders.

AV Makers Must Report All Crashes, NHTSA Mandates

July 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Automakers must report all crashes that involve either partially automated driver-assist systems or fully autonomous vehicles, as recently ordered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The American government’s highway safety agency has made it clear it will be cracking down in regards to overall automated vehicle safety–more than it has in the past. Until recently, the agency had still not issued any automated tech-related regulations due to hesitancy about interfering with the adoption of these innovative safety systems.

The mandate, which was released at the end of June, will require that companies operating vehicles equipped with driver-assist systems or operating completely autonomous vehicles, as well as the vehicle and equipment manufacturers themselves, must immediately report autonomous vehicle-involved crashes that occur on public roads. If a driver-assist system was being utilized immediately before or during a crash on a public road, that crash must also be reported.

“By mandating crash reporting, the agency will have access to critical data that will help quickly identify safety issues that could emerge in these automated systems,” said Steven Cliff, Acting Administrator for NHTSA.

Through these reports, NHTSA will be able to identify safety defects and issue a defect investigation or even deploy a crash investigation team when needed. The agency has already dispatched investigation teams to analyze 31 crashes that involved partially automated driver-assist systems over the last six years. Out of those crashes, 25 in particular were using Tesla’s autopilot system and reported 10 deaths, according to the agency’s data.

These kinds of driver-assist systems are meant to help keep a vehicle at a safe distance from any vehicles in front of it as well as keep the vehicle centered in its designated lane. Still, though, most manufacturers, and Tesla itself, make sure drivers know that although the system may be operating on autopilot, they must still be alert and ready at all times to intervene when necessary. In fact, there have been instances of Teslas using the company’s autopilot system and hitting a roadway barrier, crashing into semi trucks crossing in front of them, and getting in the way of emergency vehicles.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating these crashes and has recommended that Tesla, along with the NHTSA, only allow Tesla’s autopilot system to be operated in the areas where it is known to be able to safely do so. NHTSA should also mandate that Tesla develop an improved system that ensures drivers must be paying attention, the NTSB recommended. As of now, there have been no changes made by NHTSA.

These agencies are also looking into a myriad of non-fatal partially automated system-involved crashes in vehicles like a Volvo XC-90, a Lexus RX450H, and two Cadillac CT6s. Some investigative teams have also been deployed to look into a crash involving an Uber-operated Volvo XC-90 (during which a pedestrian was struck and killed), as well as a crash involving an automated Navya Arma low-speed shuttle bus.

“Collecting crash data, and hopefully data from crashes which were avoided, can help serve a variety of purposes from enforcing current laws to ensuring the safety of customers, as well as paving the way for reasonable regulations to encourage the deployment of safe advanced vehicle technology,” explained executive director for the Center for Auto Safety, Jason Levin. The Center for Auto Safety is an advocacy group and nonprofit and has been urging the NHTSA for years to implement strict oversight onto automated vehicle usage.

According to this order, companies will need to report all crashes involving partially automated vehicles or fully autonomous vehicles within one day, as long as they were serious enough to require a tow-away or involve a death, air bag deployment, hospital-treated injury, or any pedestrians or bicyclists.

Additionally, the requirement will not apply to consumers owning autonomous or partially autonomous vehicles or to the auto dealers selling these vehicles. All other crashes involving these kinds of vehicles that involve property damage or injury must be reported once a month.