I had a broken watch once, and even that was right twice a day. I have used that idiom time and again in personal and professional environments. I always get a chuckle out of most people when I toss that one around, but the fundamental premise that sometimes things go your way is essential to acknowledge. With that in mind, I must mention the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Crash Preventability Determination Program, or CPDP.
The agency announced in December it is expanding the CPDP to include even more crash types that are eligible for review in determining the preventability of accidents. Somewhere along the way, FMCSA listened to industry assertions that most accidents between a truck and passenger vehicle are the fault of the four-wheel counterparts with whom professional truck drivers share the road. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, in most truck vs. passenger vehicle accidents, the passenger vehicle’s driver is more likely to be at fault. With that knowledge, FMCSA finally entered the business of determining accident preventability.
Expanding or improving the list of crashes eligible for a Request for Data Review, or RDR, demonstrates the agency’s commitment to continually improving the program. FMCSA incorporated additional crash types to be considered for preventability determinations, which are as follows:
- CMV was struck on the side by a motorist operating in the same direction as CMV.
- CMV was struck because another motorist was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot.
- CMV was struck because another motorist lost control of the vehicle.
- Any other crash involving a CMV where a video demonstrates the sequence of events of the crash.
Continued growth of this list to 21 specific crash types allows fleets to expand upon crashes they were involved in for preventability determinations. Adding new crash types to the list will surely increase participation in a program that is already widely popular among safety professionals.
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Since its inception in 2020, nearly 70,000 RDRs have been submitted for review of almost 12,000 unique motor carriers, with one carrier achieving the award for most RDRs submitted at more than 1,500—if such an award existed. The reality is that FMCSA has determined the preventability of almost 47,000 crashes, of which over 45,000 were deemed “not preventable.”
These numbers are not insignificant by any stretch of the imagination. It reflects the same notion the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found: When you are sharing the road with the safest, most well-trained drivers, there must be data supporting that notion.
At the same time, the effects of submitting a crash for review come with another caveat. The continued presence of “not preventable” crashes on the public SMS or CSA, as we all know it, will still appear on a carrier’s score, reflected as two different numbers. As we understand, a motor carrier can and will reflect two different numbers in the Crash Indicator BASIC or Safety Category, as it will soon be known. It may be an entirely new column once the CSA changes take effect.
In any event, the SMS will continue to reflect the two different values as long as the motor carrier actively submits these crashes using the RDR process.
You could argue that the recent additions to the eligibility list don’t go far enough regarding crashes to be considered for an RDR, although some do. However, the recent expansion and growth of this program demonstrates that these categories remain far from complete. The agency has shown a willingness to continue improving the program rather than implementing a “set it and forget it” mindset often associated with such projects. We are in an ever-changing industry, and the recent changes to the Crash Preventability Determination program are an example of this.
Please make no mistake: The presence of the very program should continue to be viewed as a win for the industry, and its continued growth and expansion is another positive step in the right direction. Ultimately, the more carriers participating in this program will determine its outcome and reflect the number of crashes that can be viewed in our industry’s overall “report card.”
There will come a time when the overall crash rate will be reflected in the number of large truck crashes and the asterisk that highlights non-preventable crashes. This will provide a more accurate picture of our industry’s safety performance.
