road safety

‘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.”

1,273 CMVs Taken Off the Road After Unannounced Brake Safety Inspection Day

July 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Horizontal shot of a blue semi climbing a hill on an interstate highway in heavy traffic.

More than 1,200 commercial motor vehicles with critical brake violations were removed from American roadways by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s inspectors during a surprise one-day brake safety enforcement initiative.

10,091 inspections were unexpectedly inspected throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada near the end of May. This unannounced inspection event led to 1,273 vehicles being placed out-of-service.

“CVSA released its May 26th Brake Safety Day results,” said CVSA last week in a tweet. “Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. reported a total of 1,725 brake hoses [or] tubing violations–this year’s focus area–from the one-day, unannounced brake safety initiative.”

All data from this Brake Safety Day was thoroughly tracked and reported by inspectors and sent to the CVSA. This Brake Safety Day has been implemented as part of CVSA’s enforcement and inspection initiative for boosted road safety.

“We are sharing the results to call attention to the importance of commercial motor vehicle brake safety,” explained President of CVSA and Delaware State Police sergeant, John Samis.

Although the the transportation industry–and the trucking industry in particular–is well aware of the necessity for brakes to be up to standard at all times, vehicle out-of-service conditions are still mostly comprised of brake-related violations. Because of this, brake issues are continuing to be the most prevalent among commercial motor vehicles, according to the CVSA. Additionally, during 2020’s three-day International Roadcheck driver and vehicle enforcement safety event, brake system violations were the most common vehicle out-of-service category.

The safety operation was conducted by 42 U.S. jurisdictions, six Canada jurisdictions, and Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications. 8,658 inspections were conducted throughout the United States, 946 were conducted throughout Canada, and 487 were conducted throughout Mexico. The overall out-of-service brake-related violation rate throughout the continent of North America was 12.6%–With 13.3% of violations being brake-related in the United States, and in Canada and Mexico–11.4% and 2.9%, respectively. The United States, of course, had the most overall violations, with 1,151 vehicles taken off the country’s roadways after these inspections.

In addition to these issues, inspectors collected data in relation to brake hoses and tubing, a category requested to be inspected specifically by the CVSA in regards to a variety of brake hose and tubing chafing violations, but not out-of-service violations. North America saw 1,725 brake hose and tubing violations during the inspection initiative, with the United States reporting 1,288, Canada reporting 251, and Mexico reporting 186.

“Brake hoses and tubing are essential brake system components and must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks, and flexible,” explained Samis. “We chose to focus on brake hoses and tubing this year in an effort to reduce deaths and injuries as a result of commercial motor vehicle brake system failures from pressure or vacuum loss due to brake hosing and tubing deficiencies.”

The data submitted on brake hose and tubing chafing violations included four distinct categories. Category 1 saw 664 commercial motor vehicles having brake hose and tubing wear reaching the brakes’ outer protective material; Category 2 saw 509 commercial motor vehicles that had chafing which extended through the brake hose or tubing’s outer protective material and into the outer rubber cover; Category 3 saw 275 commercial motor vehicles with brake hose or tubing wear with reinforcement ply visible, although the ply may have still been intact; and Category 4 saw 169 commercial motor vehicles with visible reinforcement ply that was severed, frayed, or completely cut through.

Although Brake Safety Day is a unannounced, surprise brake safety initiative implemented by the CVSA, Brake Safety Week is held annually and the alliance does indeed announce the dates for those inspections in advance.

“This year’s Brake Safety Week is scheduled for August [22nd through the 28th],” said the CVSA in a recent tweet. “Throughout the week, inspectors will conduct North American Standard Inspections of commercial motor vehicles, focusing on the vehicles’ brake systems and components.”

State-by-State Infrastructure Guides Released by White House

July 20, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

By focusing on state-by-state cases of bridges and roads in dire need of reparations, the Biden Administration is working to urge republicans to ease their opposition to a bipartisan infrastructure plan. If such an agreement is reached, the administration says, its funding could help rebuild what is needed in these areas, as well as boost their broadband internet capabilities and water quality.

For the bipartisan agreement made by a group of senators, the White House is looking to achieve public backing and to convince lawmakers of the necessity of such a deal by detailing the amount of infrastructure repair needed in so many individual states across the country. Over the next few weeks, House Democrats are working to make informal negotiations to reach agreements on potential changes to be made, while Republicans are still likely to be in opposition of this bill due to its high costs.

The bipartisan bill agreement reached by the senate initially gained enough support to pass by regular order, although it saw later opposition from Republican senators after it was connected to a Democrat-backed budget bill by Biden. Still, the bill originally received backing from 21 total senators, which included 11 Republicans, and came out to propose $579 billion in new spending (or $973 billion when adding in regular maintenance spending costs).

Currently, the White House has not been able to identify the particular projects in each state that would be acted upon once that plan is officially set forth, as its framework still doesn’t have funding levels depicted on a state-by-state basis. Because of this, Congress is still negotiating specific details within each of the program’s categories.

“These state-by-state fact sheets will help folks localize the impact of these dollars, and better understand how these investments will make life better for their communities across the country,” said Emilie Simons, a spokeswoman for the White House.

“There is more work to do” to help improve living standards, reduce pollution, heal the economy, and create more jobs through the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, according to the fact sheets. Although this new framework is a “critical step,” the fact sheets still point to the Democrats’ second bill as being a method of bringing these goals to the next level.

According to the documents, President Biden “will work with Congress to build on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework in legislation that moves in tandem, laying the foundation for a robust and equitable recovery for all Americans.”

The bipartisan Senate proposal includes $312 billion for countrywide transportation infrastructure projects–with $110 billion specifically allocated for bridges and roads. In California, 14,220 miles of highway need reparation as well as 1,536 bridges, and the state may need $51 billion to spend on drinking water infrastructure upgrades over the next two decades. Some of the framework’s funding could help cover these costs.

According to the fact sheets, Kentucky has 1,322 miles of highway needing reparations along with 1,033 bridges–and for costs in relation to roads needing repair, drivers pay around $444 a year. Still, the plan doesn’t explain exactly how much funding would be dedicated to Kentucky’s reconstruction projects.

“The need for action in Kentucky is clear” said the document. “For decades, infrastructure in Kentucky has suffered from a systemic lack of investment. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Kentucky a C- grade on its infrastructure report card.”

7,292 miles of highway and 1,702 bridges in New York are currently considered as being in poor condition, with commute times rising by 7.4% and drivers paying around $625 annually in road repair costs. Between 2010 and 2010, the state of New York endured 31 events of extreme weather that cost around $100 billion in damages, and the plan now details its intent to allocate $47 billion to boost infrastructure updates throughout the country in areas healing from natural disasters.

$905 Million Dedicated to INFRA Grants, DOT Says

July 18, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Transportation will be offering $905 million in Infrastructure for Rebuilding American program grants, announced Pete Buttigieg, along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, at the end of June.

This grant program awards funds to certain transportation projects that are deemed nationally and regionally significant and aim to boost overall economic growth and public safety. 24 projects across 18 U.S. states will receive grants from these funds in their efforts, which include projects facilitating the improved movement of goods.

Of these funds, $46.8 million will likely be allocated to the Georgia Ports Authority for its efforts in building a new Gainesville inland container port near interstate 85 and interstate 985–the Northeast Georgia Inland Port. This will also be directly linked to the Port of Savannah by rail and will aim to lower amounts of truck-related pollution and overall carbon emissions, Buttigieg explained.

“This will be linked to Port of Savannah by direct 324-mile intermodal freight rail service and create meaningful economic opportunities in the region while also significantly reducing the vehicle miles traveled by truck,” said Buttigieg.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will also receive $30 million for its traffic flow-improving construction projects between state Routes 57 and 60. The confluence of these routes has been designated as a chokepoint, Mayor Garcetti noted. Many cargo-carrying trucks bringing goods out of Los Angeles County ports often become stuck within the congestion of this corridor, and smoothing out this traffic will help the environment much more than keeping these trucks idled in traffic, Garcetti added.

“This is not going to increase our climate emissions,” he said. “This is where, notoriously, we have accidents that sometimes will take two hours to clear. These goods have to move–period. Together with the administration, we are looking at the electrification of trucks and infrastructure. But in the meantime, we expect this to be a reduction of emissions through this grant.”

The Department of Transportation has chosen the projects for funding due to their ability to create jobs and improve local and regional economies, and has also assessed how certain projects would address issues like environmental justice and racial equity. Because of these values, around 44% of this funding has been designated to rural areas that have endured long-term underinvestment.

Pennsylvania is receiving funding for one project to improve its rural freight corridor SR 61, as well as for one project to build a multi-use berth at its Port of Philadelphia. Additionally, the South Dakota Department of Transportation will receive $62.5 million to rebuild 28 miles of interstate 90 on the eastern side of the state, which will include road surface repair and replacement as well as the addition of designated truck parking spaces in both westbound and eastbound rest stops.

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, DOT must alert congressional authorizing committees in regards to the projects chosen under the INFRA grant program. Before the awards are officially finalized, the selected projects will stay with these authorizing committees for a two-month review period.

As of now, there are not yet enough resources to meet the national demand for INFRA grants–in fact, the DOT has only been able to offer funding to around one-seventh of all state projects requesting funds, Buttigieg explained. 157 applications for grants from 42 different states and Guam requested a total of $6.8 billion.

“We need to invest in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure,” said Governor Wolf. “We really need to do this. We need to return to the common attachment we all seemed to have at one point–to the idea that a robust infrastructure has always been at the heart of our national prosperity.”

The announcement of this grant comes as many lawmakers are working to reach a bipartisan infrastructure deal agreement, which was announced by a group of legislators, along with President Biden, at the end of last month.

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.

Truck Speed Limiters Bill Introduced in House of Representatives

June 28, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A bill requiring speed limiters for commercial trucks has been introduced within the U.S. House of Representatives, and has been named the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act.

The act will aim to urge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure all commercial motor vehicles have speed-limiting technology implemented onboard. This technology would either have a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour preset, or a speed of 70 miles per hour preset in collaboration with a truck’s automatic emergency braking systems and adaptive cruise control systems.

The bill currently has bipartisan sponsorship by Representatives Lucy McBath of Georgia and John Katko of New York, and is named for Cullum Owings. Owings was killed when a tractor-trailer on cruise control struck his passenger vehicle in 2002.

“The safety and security of our families, our friends, and our loved ones is always of the utmost priority,” said McBath when the legislation was first introduced in late May. “The Owings family has done so much to protect other children like Cullum, and I want to thank them for all they have done. This is an important, bipartisan step to make our roadways safer, protect drivers, and stop these heartbreaking crashes from happening.”

Cullum’s father, Steve Owings, co-founded the safety organization Road Safe America following the incident, and believes the act will help prevent other parents of children from experiencing a loss like the one he and his family had to endure.

“Our lives changed forever in the worst of ways after a speeding truck driver using cruise control crashed into our son’s car, [which was] stopped in an interstate traffic jam as he headed back to college after Thanksgiving Break,” said Owings. “Back then, Susan and I were completely unaware that most large trucks already had speed limiter technology built in, which could have saved our son’s life had it been used. We are so thankful to Representative McBath for understanding the grief of losing a child and for introducing the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act to ensure other families do not suffer the same needless loss we deal with every day because of speeding big rigs.”

The bill was submitted for consideration to a committee of jurisdiction, and gained support from Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia during its previous Congressional session. Now, many freight stakeholders have begun backing the legislation, and Road Safe America, along with American Trucking Associations, requested support for speed limiter guidelines from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier in 2021.

In their letter to Buttifieg, the groups noted the 2016 rule making proposal that requested a speed limiter rule, as well as the recent updates within driver assist safety technologies. In the 2016 proposal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration urged for a requirement that would ensure speed-limiting devices be implemented onto trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. Additionally, maximum top speeds were recommended in the proposal–of 60, 65, or 68 miles per hour.

It is clear that ATA is worried about strict regulations regarding speed limitations for all commercial motor vehicles.

“When the Department of Transportation initially published the 2016 notice of proposed rule making, ATA and many motor carriers shared several concerns about the efficacy of a one-size-fits-all solution applied to a sector as complex and nuanced as trucking,” wrote ATA President Chris Spear and Road Safe America in their letter to Buttigieg. “Foremost among them were the unintended and potentially dangerous consequences of limiting commercial drivers to one universal speed limit despite the varying limits set for passenger vehicles on interstate and secondary roads.”

The groups added that they were particularly worried about the rule’s longevity as safety technology continues to evolve and more and more commercial trucks are receiving regular tech upgrades than ever.

“Another question is how such a rule would adapt to the rapid evolution taking place in vehicle safety technology,” the letter continued.