On most days, news of a proposed rule being published in the Federal Register, the legal newspaper run by the National Archives and Records Administration, would fail to generate any real coverage or discussion. That's because most proposed rules, while important, are nevertheless written in an arcane style and/or cover an area of little interest to the general public. Of course, there are always exceptions. For example, consider that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published two proposed rules earlier this week that, if adopted, would change the landscape of the trucking industry in the U.S. Commercial Learner's Permits The first proposed rule calls for states to be granted the authority to issue commercial learner's permits for up to 12 months with the option to renew for an additional six months. This would be a departure from the current rule, which sets the limit for issuing CLPs at six months. According to…

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its estimates for the number of traffic fatalities during the first 9 months of 2016 earlier this year, people were understandably concerned. That's because it projected that as many as 27,875 people lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents versus 25,808 during the same timeframe in 2015, an 8 percent increase. While these figures have sounded an alarm about the safety of our roads and highways, the numbers recently released by another federal agency will likely raise these concerns to another level. Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released its annual figures concerning large truck accidents, meaning those weighing in excess of 10,000 pounds. They revealed that the number of large trucks involved in fatal accidents rose from 3,749 in 2014 to 4,050 in 2015, an 8 percent increase. Furthermore, the rate of large trucks involved in fatal accidents per 100…

It would perhaps be the understatement of the century to say that there has been no shortage of action -- and controversy -- on Capitol Hill over the course of the last two months. Indeed, from healthcare and immigration to the federal budget and Supreme Court vacancy, there has been no respite in either the halls of Congress or the Oval Office. While this is perhaps not altogether unsurprising, it does raise concerns as to whether lawmakers are still paying sufficient attention to those matters, which despite not being on the same scale as those mentioned above, are nevertheless vital to the functioning of the nation. For example, are federal lawmakers continuing to make road safety a priority? The good news is that it appears as if the fight to make our roads and highways safer have not been abandoned. Just last week, the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and…

In a post last week, our blog discussed how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has introduced a rule calling for the creation of a database listing the names of licensed truckers who have either refused drug tests or failed drug tests. Curiously enough, this issue perhaps took on added significance after last week's elections, which saw voters in four states -- California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada -- legalize marijuana for recreational purposes and voters in three states -- Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota -- legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Indeed, statistics show that as many as 80 million people currently live in states where recreational marijuana is now legal in some form, while over half the states permit medical marijuana. Given this dramatic expansion of pro-pot laws, it naturally raises the question as to what, if anything, the FMCSA has recently had to say about use of the drug…

One of the single most difficult things for millions of Americans to do is secure eight hours of sleep. While this can be attributed to everything from generalized anxiety and acid reflux disorder to newborn babies and noisy neighbors, it can also be attributed to a serious condition known as obstructive sleep apnea. Interestingly enough, a recently published study by researchers in Italy revealed that truckers suffering from obstructive sleep apnea -- or OSA -- have a considerable higher crash risk than their counterparts able to secure a good night's rest. What is OSA?     OSA is a breathing disorder in which a person's airway actually collapses during sleep, resulting in a coughing/gasping reflex that wakes them momentarily. As this happens many times throughout the course of the night, it prevents the person from ever falling into a deep, restorative sleep cycle. Many times, people are unaware they have the…

While most people are well aware that interstate trucks are subject to extensive federal regulations covering everything from their brakes to their tires, what they might not realize is that these regulations aren't just confined to the exterior of the truck, but rather extend to the interior as well. For example, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's regulations on windshields dictate that no devices can be mounted more than six inches below the upper edge and, even then, they must be mounted outside the truck driver's line of sight. While this may seem somewhat arbitrary, the regulation exists to ensure that truckers have a clear line of sight to the road, signage and traffic signals. Interestingly enough, the FMCSA announced last week that it was officially changing this longstanding regulation on windshield-mountable devices. What does the new regulation state? Starting October 23, certain types of "vehicle safety technology" can be mounted on…

In our last post, we discussed how both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have introduced a new proposal calling for all trucks rolling off the assembly line -- and a potentially large number of trucks already on the highways -- to be outfitted with electronic speed limiters. Specifically, the proposal, which has been published in the Federal Register, calls for these electronic speed limiters to physically prevent trucks from going faster than one of three speeds: 60, 65 or 68 miles-per-hour. Not surprisingly, most safety advocacy groups have already come out in support of the measure, owing in large part to some of the accident prevention figures offered by the NHTSA and the FMCSA. Indeed, the proposal indicates that in addition to preventing thousands of truck accident injuries, a 60 mile-per-hour max speed could prevent 162 to 498 fatalities per year, a 65…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made headlines last week when they announced a proposal that, if enacted, would require all new semi trucks to be equipped with electronic devices that limit their maximum speed to anywhere from 60 to 68 miles-per-hour. While it's possible that many greeted this news with little more than a shrug, it's important to consider that the two agencies predicted this new proposal could save the lives of anywhere from 96 to 498 motorists per year and prevent many of the 1,115 heavy truck crashes that occur here in the U.S. on an annual basis. Indeed, all of this really serves to underscore the unfortunate -- and perhaps grim -- reality that despite all of the progress that has been made in making both roads and vehicles safer, motorists are still very much at risk of being involved in…

Thanks to the tireless efforts of scientists, engineers and software developers, many of the vehicles on the roads and highways are now equipped with safety technology that would have been unheard of a decade ago. Indeed, there's now technology to stop rear-end collisions, prevent lane departures and even assume complete control of the driving experience. As fascinating and encouraging as this has been, there are a few areas in which real safety solutions are still lacking, including drowsy driving. Interestingly enough, however, we may be on the precipice of seeing this dangerous driving condition rectified by safety technology currently being deployed in a somewhat unlikely industry. What exactly is this industry and what technology are they using?   Caterpillar Safety Services, a subsidiary of the Illinois-based construction giant, has outfitted 5,000 vehicles around the world involved in mining operations with facial recognition software and equipment designed by the tech company Seeing Machines.…

Commercial vehicles pose a very serious threat to passenger cars traveling alongside them. Not only are they larger and heavier than passenger vehicles, they can travel just as fast as everyone else. Certainly these factors make commercial vehicles a danger, but there are several other factors that should be considered when making the decision to drive alongside them. By definition, a commercial vehicle is any vehicle used for carrying people or goods for a fee. Yes, this may include tractor trailer semi-trucks, but it also includes dump trucks, tanker trucks and delivery vehicles. Each one of these vehicles is dangerous in their own way. However, the level of risk these trucks pose to other drivers may be specific to their body type and contents. The run of the mill semi-truck, also known as a tractor-trailer, is one of the most commonly seen commercial vehicles on the highway. These trucks are mainly dangerous…