More concerns about CSA 2010
The American Trucking Associations and industry representatives have recently been voicing their concerns over several aspects of the new safety enforcement plan, CSA 2010, being tested in Missouri and other states to prevent tractor-trailer accidents. We recently blogged about issues with the release of data to the public, but there are still other issues that trucking companies would like to see worked about before the program officially goes live.
One of these other issues is the way the program tracks commercial truck crashes. As it is currently designed, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration doesn't designate accountability or fault when tracking the number of crashes a company or driver has been involved with. The data only reflects that an accident occurred and the severity of the accident.
Some trucking companies believe the FMCSA should differentiate between preventable and non-preventable accidents so that drivers and their companies are not punished for wrecks that aren't their fault.
Representatives with the FMCSA team organizing CSA 2010 say they've always tracked accidents without recording fault. They claim that crash data, regardless of fault, is an accurate predictor of the chances of future crashes.
Even though the data as is may be a useful tool in predicting accidents, the FMCSA did say they will consider a new way of tracking accountability so that drivers involved in accidents that weren't their fault are separated from negligent drivers whose actions contributed to a wreck.
