FMCSA’s Crash Preventability Program and Its Benefits for CMV Owners

Key Takeaways

• Introduction
• Role of FMCSA to provide relief in fleet management
• About Crash Preventability Program
• Eligibility guide for a Non-preventable Crash
• Benefits to the CMV owners
• Out of service violations

Introduction

Whenever there is an accident between a commercial vehicle and a light motor vehicle, the trucker is often blamed for the mishap. Whether the crash was preventable or not, the truck drivers had to face unfair allegations with compromised compensations. It is usually seen that several accidents were put as the truck driver’s fault when, in reality, the driver couldn't do anything to prevent the accident from happening.

Role of FMCSA to provide relief in fleet management

The FMCSA - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by the U.S Department of Transportation laid a temporary plan of the Crash Preventability Demonstration Program in 2015. But in 2017, FMCSA did close supervision into the records of more than 5000 crash cases by truck and buses. And it was found that almost 94% of the cases passed for the non-preventable category. This is why the FMCSA came-up with a permanent crash preventability determination program on July 31, 2019. The FMCSA has promised this program for truckers, which would not consider ‘non-preventable’ crashes in compliance, safety, and accountability scores.

About Crash Preventability Program

The Crash Preventability Program will not hold the driver responsible for an unavoidable crash. Therefore, a non-preventable accident will not affect the compliance, safety, and accountability (CSA) score of a driver.

Process involved:

• Under this program, if your commercial motor vehicle met with an eligible crash on or after August 1, 2019, you can submit a request for data review along with a police accident report and supporting documents, photos, or videos on FMCSA’s website.
• The FMCSA will review your request.
• If the proof is convincing, the FMCSA will approve the accident as “non-preventable.”   

 Eligibility Guide for a Non-Preventable Crash

Many factors constitute determining whether an accident is eligible for Crash Preventability Demonstration Program or not. Following are the list of circumstances that will be regarded as a “non-preventable” crash:

• If the CMV was struck in the rear; or, on the side at the back.
• If the CMV was crashed by a vehicle coming in the wrong direction or operating in the wrong direction or making an illegal turn.
•  If the crash occurred when the CMV was legally parked or stopped.
• If the CMV was hit by a vehicle that didn’t follow the traffic rules.
• If there was any medical issue that led to the CMV crash.
• If the Commercial Motor Vehicle was struck by another vehicle driver who was intoxicated.
• If the CMV was hit by another vehicle where the other driver was falling asleep or distracted due to passengers, mobile phones or GPS, etc.
• If the CMV was struck by infrastructure failure or a natural calamity like items (identifiable/unidentifiable) in the road.
• Type of crash when the CMV struck an animal.
• Type of crash when the CMV struck an individual committing or attempting to commit suicide.
• Unusual type of crash where the CMV was struck by an airplane, skydiver, or hit by a deceased driver.

 Benefits to the CMV owners and fleet management

With the implementation of Crash Preventable Program, every truck driver and CMW owner can enjoy the following benefits:

• Considering the factual points and evidence of the accident, the crash report will be published, which can be favorable for the driver if he is eligible under the Crash Preventable Program.
• The CSA score of the driver will not be affected by accident eligible under the Crash Preventability Program.
• The insurance premium will not be increased due to a low CSA score, not because of the driver’s fault.
• As many businesses work with the CSA score of the driver, this program is a business booster for truck fleet companies.
• Also, the crash records sent by the carrier companies, truck owners, and drivers to the FMCSA would help the authority to get a deeper understanding of the cause of truck crashes. This way, they can develop new policies and programs to safeguard the interests of the drivers and fleet companies. By rendering road safety measures and safe driving methods in the future, the benefits of crash preventability programs are many.

 Out of Service Violations

A crash will be found preventable if the documentation presented for review shows that the CMV driver has violated an Out of Service regulation at the time of the crash. This means, if the driver has exceeded his/her hours of service limit, the collision is said to be preventable.

 An accident is unavoidable unless it has happened, and no accident can be compared to another. The Non-Preventable Crash Program provides great relief to truck drivers, carrier companies, and fleet management services. The program aims at only freeing the driver from false allegations. It doesn’t mean that the carrier company has nothing to do with the compromises. Every truck company must ensure that its drivers are aware of this program and its purpose so that they can avoid a crash as much as possible. In addition to the crash preventability program, FMCSA has also taken measures to minimize road accidents altogether. The ELD mandate is one such program to ensure that the driver is not working extra hours of his service time.

A driver’s safety and freight security are ensured with a company like Matrack, as we have reliable tracking software and systems to track your assets and freight. Matrack offers FMCSA approved ELD logbook, which is DOT compliant electronic logbook that caters to the guidelines issued by FMCSA. The Matrack ELD logbook app is easy to use and helps fleet managers to speed on loading and unloading procedures from the start to end.